Flustra foliacea

Flustra foliacea is a species of bryozoans found in the northern Atlantic Ocean. It is a colonial animal that is frequently mistaken for a seaweed. Colonies begin as encrusting mats, and only produce loose fronds after their first year of growth. They may reach 20 cm (8 in) long, and smell like lemons. Its microscopic structure was examined by Robert Hooke and illustrated in his 1665 work Micrographia.

Taxonomic history

's Micrographia: Figure 1 (top) shows the structure of Flustra foliacea. Flustra foliacea was studied as early as 1665, when Robert Hooke published observations of various organisms and materials made with an early microscope. It was first given a binomial name in 1758, when Carl Linnaeus included it in the 10th edition of his '' as Eschara foliacea. In later publications, Linnaeus divided bryozoans into more than one genus, and so the species came to be called Flustra foliacea. It is the type species of the genus Flustra''. ==Description==

Description

Flustra foliacea is often mistaken for a seaweed, but is actually a colony of animals. Each zooid is roughly rectangular, with 4–5 short spines at the distal end and 13–14 tentacles around the lophophore. ==Distribution and ecology==

Distribution and ecology

Flustra foliacea has a wide distribution in the north Atlantic Ocean, on both the European and American sides. The fronds of Flustra foliacea are often used by other animals as a substrate to live on. Such epibionts include other bryozoa such as Crista eburnea, hydroids, sessile polychaete worms and the porcelain crab Pisidia longicornis. Other animals feed on F. foliacea, including the sea urchins Echinus esculentus and Psammechinus miliaris and the nudibranch Crimora papillata; the pycnogonid Achelia echinata feeds preferentially on F. foliacea. ==Life cycle==

Life cycle

Flustra foliacea colonies only grow in spring and summer, which can result in visible annual growth rings. Breeding occurs between separate male and female zooids within the colony in autumn and winter. ==References==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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