Biodiversity & Conservation

An erect bryozoan - Bugula purpurotincta

An erect bryozoan

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Distribution map

Bugula purpurotincta recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Bugula purpurotincta is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Bryozoa Sea mats, horn wrack & lace corals
Class Gymnolaemata
Authority Norman, 1868
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland A nationally scarce species recorded off Shetland, the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and in the Firth of Lorn, West Scotland. It has also been recorded off Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Northern Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Bugula purpurotincta can be found attached to shells and hydroids at low water spring tides and shallow waters down to a maximum recorded depth of 274 m.
Text page icon Description Bugula purpurotincta forms an erect, densely tufted, branched colony about 8 cm in height and is a purplish-red colour when dry. The branches have slender zooids. Individual zooids are about 0.56 by 0.17 mm and alternate along dichotomously dividing branches. Avicularia are present and attached halfway down the outer margin of the autozooid and have a hooked beak. Brood chambers (ooecia) are hemispherical.
Identifying features
  • Colony erect, branched and densely tufted.
  • Colony 8 cm in height.
  • Branches dividing dichotomously.
  • Purplish-red in colour when dried.
  • Zooids are about 0.56 x 0.17 mm.
  • Avicularia have a hooked beak.
  • Avicularia are attached halfway down the outer margin of the autozooid.
  • Ooecia are hemispherical.
Additional information icon Additional information Identification to species level may require microscopic examination. For a detailed key see Hayward & Ryland (1998).

This review can be cited as follows:

Anna Neish 2003. Bugula purpurotincta. An erect bryozoan. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 11/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2824>