Escharina alderi (Busk, 1856)

Morphology: 

Escharina alderi is an encrusting bryozoan that forms runner-like colonies. Colonies are composed of irregularly branching linear series of autozooids forming a delicate network of interlaced branching lines over the substrate, occasionally converging to form a loose disordered sheet Autozooids are oval, elongate, flattened and only slightly convex. They are 0.5-0.7 by 0.4-0.5 mm.

Distribution: 

Escharina alderi is a cold temperate species, restricted to the north-east Atlantic. It has been reported from Bergen, Norway, the Barents Sea, Shetland and as far south as the Hebrides

Habitat: 

The species is able to colonise hard substrates, in offshore waters.

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith