PORT PHILLIP BAY


Lace Coral 

Cellaria rigida MacGillivray, 1885

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

A microscope is usually required to identify bryozoans to species level.

Source: Wilson, R., Norman, M. and Syme, A. (2007) An introduction to marine life. Museum Victoria, Melbourne.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Bryozoa
Class:
Gymnolaemata
Order:
Cheilostomata
Suborder:
Flustrina
Infraorder:
Cryptocystomorpha
Superfamily:
Cellarioidea
Family:
Cellariidae
Genus:
Cellaria
Species:
rigida

General Description

A narrowly branched colony of tiny individual animals (zooids).

Biology

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

Usually anchored to hard rocky or shelly surfaces.

Reefs

Species Group

Lace corals

Depth

Shallow (1-30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

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

Author

article author Patullo, B.

Blair Patullo is Online Producer for marine projects at Museum Victoria.

citation

Cite this page as:
Patullo, B., 2011, Lace Coral, Cellaria rigida, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 04 Nov 2024, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/5928

Text: creative commons cc by licence