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Morro Bay: Under the Surface
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Morro Bay: Under the Surface
  • Home
    • Credits and References
  • Plants and Algae
    • Eelgrass
    • Ulva
    • Giant Kelp
  • Invertebrates
    • Red-Rust Bryozoan
    • Feather Duster Worm
    • White Anemone
    • Starburst Anemone
    • Bat Star
    • Sand Dollar
    • California Sea Hare
    • California Aglaja
    • Moon Snail
    • California Bubble Snail
    • Mossy Chiton
    • Eelgrass Isopod
    • Kelp Crab
    • Striped Shore Crab
    • Hairy Shore Crab
    • Purple Shore Crab
    • Graceful Rock Crab
    • Sandflat Elbow Crab
    • Blueband Hermit Crab
    • Pacific Rock Crab
  • Fish
    • Bay Pipefish
    • Staghorn Sculpin
    • Topsmelt
    • Dwarf Perch
    • Pacific Sanddab
    • Round Stingray
  • Marine Mammals
    • Sea Otter
    • California Sea Lion
    • Harbor Seal
  • More
    • Home
      • Credits and References
    • Plants and Algae
      • Eelgrass
      • Ulva
      • Giant Kelp
    • Invertebrates
      • Red-Rust Bryozoan
      • Feather Duster Worm
      • White Anemone
      • Starburst Anemone
      • Bat Star
      • Sand Dollar
      • California Sea Hare
      • California Aglaja
      • Moon Snail
      • California Bubble Snail
      • Mossy Chiton
      • Eelgrass Isopod
      • Kelp Crab
      • Striped Shore Crab
      • Hairy Shore Crab
      • Purple Shore Crab
      • Graceful Rock Crab
      • Sandflat Elbow Crab
      • Blueband Hermit Crab
      • Pacific Rock Crab
    • Fish
      • Bay Pipefish
      • Staghorn Sculpin
      • Topsmelt
      • Dwarf Perch
      • Pacific Sanddab
      • Round Stingray
    • Marine Mammals
      • Sea Otter
      • California Sea Lion
      • Harbor Seal


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Red-Rust Bryozoan

Watersipora subtorquata


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a mass of ruffly red flaps covered in raised dots

Common Name: Red-Rust Bryozoan

Scientific Name: Watersipora subtorquata

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family: Animalia Bryozoa Gymnolaemata Cheilostomata Watersiporidae

Diet: Filter feeds using oral tentacles that sway in the water to catch micro-organic particles

Habitat: Encrusts on floats, pilings in estuaries and harbors

Range: Found globally in warm seas . Invasive species in Morro Bay

Identification: Red/Orange/black coloration of plate/leaf like structures, large sized pores can be seen on surface of plates, no spines, Juveniles metamorphose

Reproduction: Hermaphrodite (has both female and male reproductive organs), males release sperm into water where it fertilizes other individuals

Fact: The individuals, called “Zooids” live as a colony; on the leafy plates each pore contains a zooid. Watersipora is not native to California and it covers spaces that could otherwise be used by native species. It is common in estuaries on docks and pier pilings

Citations:Osburn, Raymond C. 1952.Cohen, Andrew N. 2011.




© Iliana Arroyos, 2018
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