bryozoan
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌbraɪəˈzoʊən/
- Specialized
:
briozoo
- Under the microscope, we observed the delicate feeding tentacles of the bryozoan extending from its colony.
- bryozoans and corals
- bryozoans and sponges
Examples
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In the aquatic ecosystem, bryozoans play a crucial role by filtering microscopic algae from the water.
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Its rust-colored skin was crinkled by colonies of hundreds of bryozoans.
Academic text (1992) -
Thus, delaying metamorphosis can substantially alter the fitness of bryozoans and barnacles.
Academic text (1998) -
They grazed upon the bryozoans and corals, munching the tissues of the very hosts that sheltered them.
Academic text (1992) -
The first wave of multicellular organisms that cement themselves to the crab's shell typically includes barnacles, delicate encrusting bryozoans, and tube-forming polychaete worms.
Academic text (2002) -
The rocks were covered in tiny bryozoans that resembled a thick layer of moss.
Synonyms
A small water animal that lives attached to rocks and has feeding tentacles with the anus outside them
A small water animal that lives in groups attached to rocks and has a ring of tentacles used for feeding
A small animal that lives attached to rocks or seaweed and forms groups of tiny animals with tentacles
A small animal that lives attached to rocks or seaweed and forms moss-like groups with tiny tentacles
A group of small animals that grow like underwater moss on rocks or seaweed
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word bryozoan comes from Greek parts bryo- 'moss' and -zoan 'animal', so it literally means 'moss animal'. That's why a bryozoan is a tiny water animal that lives in moss-like colonies and uses small tentacles to feed.