Cryptosula pallasiana is an encrusting bryozoan, common to British shores and shallow subtidal waters. The colonies form white, pink or orange sheets, several centimetres in diameter. Deep brown opercula (flap-like folds of the body wall which close the orifice) are clearly visible across the colony surface.

 C. pallasiana colonises a range of algal and hard substrata. The species is distributed from Norway to the Mediterranean and Black Sea and on the Atlantic coast of Canada and the USA to Florida. C. pallasiana frequently fouls boat hulls and has been reported from docks and harbours in New Zealand.

 

Living colonies are pink, beige or white in color. C. pallasiana is an encrusting type whose colonies sometimes rise into frills. Zooids are hexagonal in shape and measure approximately 0.6 X 0.4 mm in size. The frontal surface is heavily calcified and has large pores set into it. Colonies may sometimes appear to have a beaded surface due to zooids having a suboral umbo. The orifice is bell-shaped and large, with a deep, rounded anterior portion, and a shallow arc posteriorly. The peristome is narrow and frames the orifice. Occasionally, small, sub-oral avicularia are detected, though none were observed in Winston's (1982) specimens of this species.

Belgian Coast, Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone, British Isles, Calais, Delta area, Den Helder, Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone, Egmond aan Zee, European waters (ERMS scope), Gulf of Maine, Meer van Goes, New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, North West Atlantic, Oostende, Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone, Ria de Aveiro, Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone, Texel, United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone, Wimereux, Zeebrugge

Nova Scotia to Florida

Cryptosula pallasiana is common on British shores and shallow subtidal waters. The species has been recorded from western Norway, south to the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and on the Atlantic coast of Canada and the USA, from Nova Scotia to Florida. C. pallasiana has been reported from docks and harbours in New Zealand and the Pacific coasts of North America.

C. pallasiana is cosmopolitan, with worldwide distribution, but its range is sometimes disjunct. Marcus (1942) suggested its distribution could be related to its proximity to shipping lanes. C. pallasiana is a common fouling organism that is most common from Spring through Fall in the India River Lagoon (Winston 1995).

 Zooids are oval to hexagonal in shape and individual zooids are separated by deep grooves. The frontal surface is heavily calcified with regularly distributed pores, each bordered by calcification. The orifice is bell-shaped and framed by an erect, flared peristome. Small sub-oral avicularia are occasionally present. The zooids of C. pallasiana  have occasionally been observed to fuse together to form larger zooids which may develop two polypides (Jebram 1977). Polypides have 16-17 tentacles.

Zooids are typically 0.6-1.0 by 0.35 – 0.5 mm

Individual zooids measure approximately 0.6 X 0.4 mm in size.

sessile, colonial on hard substratum epifauna in the marine environment

Depth range based on 53 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 9 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 130
  Temperature range (°C): 8.336 - 16.565
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.326 - 6.254
  Salinity (PPS): 31.856 - 39.053
  Oxygen (ml/l): 5.190 - 6.656
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.096 - 1.030
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.352 - 18.436

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0 - 130

Temperature range (°C): 8.336 - 16.565

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.326 - 6.254

Salinity (PPS): 31.856 - 39.053

Oxygen (ml/l): 5.190 - 6.656

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.096 - 1.030

Silicate (umol/l): 1.352 - 18.436
 
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Cryptosula pallasiana is common on NW European shores from the mean tide level into the shallow sublittoral. Colonies are abundant on rocky overhangs and the underside of flat stones, but can also colonise shells and other hard substrata. Kelp hold fasts and the button-like thalli of Himanthalia are frequently colonised by C. pallasiana in British waters. This species has been recorded from brackish environments in boreal, warm-temperate and tropical locations (Winston, 1977).                        

Like all bryozoans, C .pallasiana is a suspension feeder. It feeds on small phytoplankton using ciliated tentacles of the lophophore.

A. sica, like all bryozoans, is a suspension feeder. Each individual zooid in a colony has ciliated tentacles that are extended to filter phytoplankton less than 0.045 mm in size (about 1/1800 of an inch) from the water column. Bullivant (1967; 1968) showed that the average individual zooid in a colony can clear 8.8 ml of water per day.Habitats: Typical habitat for ectoprocts in the Indian River Lagoon include seagrasses, drift algae, oyster reef, dock, pilings, breakwaters, and man-made debris (Winston 1995). C. pallasiana occurred on nearly any hard substratum including rock, glass, and beach rocks.

C. pallasiana will often colonise kelp hold fasts and button-like thalli of Himanthalia. Colonies are predated upon by nudibranchs such as Acanthodoris pilosa and Palio dubia.

Seagrasses as well as floating macroalgae, provide support for bryozoan colonies. In turn, bryozoans provide habitat for many species of juvenile fishes and their invertebrate prey such as polychaete worms, amphipods and copepods. (Winston 1995).Bryozoans are also found in association with other species that act as support structures: mangrove roots, oyster beds, mussels, etc.

C. pallasiana is a cosmopolitan and common fouling species in the IRL.Locomotion: Sessile

The founding zooid (ancestrula) develops into a young colony, and later into an adult colony through asexual budding. Sexually produced embryos are brooded within the colony before the larvae are released. Larvae settle after liberation and metamorphose into an ancestrula.

Sexually-produced embryos, which are orange in colour, are brooded in internal brood sacs (as opposed to ovicells). In the British Isles, embryos are most abundant during the summer. The larvae of C. pallasiana are non-feeding coronate larvae, which lack a shell and have a densely ciliated belt (the corona) for locomotion. Larval settlement has been recorded from May to December in western Norway, peaking in July and September. In Britain settlement continues through October.

Like all bryozoans, C. pallasiana grows through asexual budding of new zooids at the periphery. Once formed, each zooid undergoes calcification.

No ovicells are present in this species. Rather, embryos are brooded in ovisacs within individual zooids. The presence of embryos is detected due to their orange color, and was only recorded in April.

C. pallasiana has a fossil record that extends back to the Miocene.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


There is 1 barcode sequence available from BOLD and GenBank.   Below is the sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen.  Other sequences that do not yet meet barcode criteria may also be available.


Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Specimens with Barcodes: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1

C. pallasiana is a common fouler of ships’ hulls and is thought to have been introduced into much of its present day range e.g. on the Pacific coast of America.

Benefit in IRL: Bryozoans are ecologically important in the Indian River Lagoon due to their feeding method. As suspension feeders, they act as living filters in the marine environment. For example, Winston (1995) reported that bryozoan colonies located in 1 square meter of seagrass bed could potentially filter and recirculate an average of 48,000 gallons of seawater per day.