General Description

A flat encrusting sheet-like colony of tiny individual animals (zooids). Bright red to orange. Colony up to about 2 cm wide.

Biology

Madrella sanguinea, a small nudibranch, feeds on these colonies and is often found nearby. Bryozoan colonies like this species feed using a circlet of tentacles (lophophore) which filters the water. Most bryozoans are hermaphrodites, either containing separate female and male zooids in the colony, or containing both sexes within the one zooid. Colonies can grow quickly and thus some species can be a pest if they foul hulls of ships or the wooden structures of piers.

Habitat

Tidal pools and shallow subtidal waters. commonly attached to algae stems or reef, to depth of 5 m.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Seagrass meadows

Species Group

Lace corals

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)
Shallow (1-30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

2 cm

Diet

Plankton or particles

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Recorded in Australia

Conservation Status

• DSE Advisory List : Not listed
• EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
• IUCN Red List : Not listed