Stomachetosella cruenta (Busk, 1854)

Morphology: 

Stomachetosella cruenta is an encrusting bryozoan that forms thick uneven crusts, which are reddish brown in colour. Autozooids are oval to hexagonal or with a very irregular outline. They are 0.5-0.7 by 0.4-0.5 mm.

Distribution: 

Stomachetosella cruenta is a boreal-arctic species, with a circumpolar distribution in the eastern Atlantic, ranging south to Shetland, Orkney and the northern coast of Scotland.

Habitat: 

The species is able to colonise stones and shells in offshore waters and has been recorded between 11 and 324 metres

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