Inversiula nutrix Jullien, 1888

provided by British Antarctic Survey

Description

Inversiula nutrix is one of the few bryozoans, or even representatives of any invertebrate, which occurs in the intertidal zone. It is generally found on coastal boulders but does cover other surfaces such as animal shells or even drift plastic. The species dominates the shallow encrusting fauna on the shores of the Scotia Arc islands. Encrusting colonies can have feint annual growth lines and are usually orange/yellow to green but young colonies may be almost translucent. Colonies rarely live longer than 4 years and most in shallow water are less than 2 years old as they are smashed up by icebergs grounding. Many colonies bare scars and show ongoing repairs from scrapes that haven’t killed them completely. During the summer I. nutrix colonies appear hairy from all the feeding tentacles everted.