PORT PHILLIP BAY


Lace Coral 

Triphyllozoon munitum (Hincks, 1878)

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:
Ascophorina
Infraorder:
Lepraliomorpha
Superfamily:
Celleporoidea
Family:
Phidoloporidae
Genus:
Triphyllozoon
Species:
munitum

General Description

Flat lattice sheet-like colony of tiny individual animals (zooids) that forms into folded/curled circular structures. Colony up to about 15 cm high.

Biology

The folds of these colonies provide shelter for many small invertebrates such as polychaete worms and amphipod crustaceans. 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

15 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

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, Triphyllozoon munitum, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 09 Oct 2024, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/6183

Text: creative commons cc by licence