Ecology of endolithic bryozoans: colony development, growth rates and interactions of species in the genus Immergentia.

ABSTRACT: Boring bryozoans dissolve calcium carbonate substrates, leaving unique borehole traces. Depending on the shell type, borehole apertures and colony morphology can be diagnostic for distinguishing taxa, but to discriminate among species their combination with zooidal morphology is essential. All boring (endolithic) bryozoans are ctenostomes that, along with other boring taxa, are common in benthic communities. The growth rates of such bryozoans, including Immergentiidae, are largely unknown. For the first time laboratory experiments were conducted to determine growth rates and early colony development of the intertidal species Immergentia stephanieae and the subtidal species I. cf. suecica from Roscoff, France. In growth experiment 1, ancestrular growth rates varied, with the highest rates i

SUBMITTER: Johnson MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11686985 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature