Cheilostomatous bryozoan Camptoplites sp.

Camptoplites bryozoans have their greatest diversity on the Antarctic Shelf and are also known from the abyss of the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans [1]. Camptoplites colonies are erect, have dichotomous branching at regular intervals, may exceed five centimeters in height, and develop slender, open branched forms, dense feathery tuft forms, or highly-branched fan-shaped forms [1]. 81% (215 of 264) of Antarctic Cheilostomatous bryozoan species are endemic to Antarctica; nine of the ten Antarctic species of Camptoplites are endemic to Antarctica [1].

This Camptoplites sp. could be among six or so species [1,2].

Bryozoans are sedentary animals that form colonies of individuals (zooids) by budding. The external skeletal walls of bryozoans are made with calcium carbonate (calcareous). Bryozoan zooids sit in the equivalent of a calcified box with a gated opening from which a feeding structure is protruded to capture small plankton; food is carried to the mouth with cilial hairs and then sucked into the stomach for digestion. Sea slugs and sea spiders are their usual predators.

1: Antarctic Cheilostomatous Bryozoa. PJ Hayward. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1995; 2: PJ Hayward, personal communication, 1999

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