Fieldtrips and Fieldtrip Classes

Phylum Bryozoa

Bryozoans form either encrusting or bushy-tuftlike lacy colonies on sea weeds, rocks, and other hard surfaces. The colonies are made up of very small interconnected individuals (called zooids). The individuals are bilaterally symmetrical, have organ systems, and lack segmentation. Bryozoans (along with worm-like phoronids and bivalve-like brachiopods) are unique among marine invertebrates in having a feeding structure called a lophophore. It is made up of a set of ciliated tentacles arranged in a horeshoe-shaped coil and is used to filter food particles from the water.

Click on the links below to learn more about the different bryozoans that are found in the intertidal of the Gulf of California. To go back to the Gallery of Marine Life, click here.

To take a practice quiz on the Phylum Bryozoa, click here.