Scrupariidae

General description: 

Bryozoans in this family form erect colonies, rising from a creeping base. Autozooids uniserially arranged in chains. Budding takes place from the frontal surface of zooids as well as distally and laterally. Autozooids of nearly tubular form with a subterminal frontal membrane; no marginal spines. The everted tentacle sheath is encircled by a ring of setose teeth, as in the Aeteidae. Polypide with about 12 tentacles.


Globular brood chambers are situated on special reproductive autozooids. Each brood chamber is bivalve, with the two halves contributing to a median keel along the line of fusion. The walls are double, consisting of an outer membranous and an inner, calcified wall. Several embryos at the time develop inside the brood chamber. Method of closure not known. The fertile zooids are shorter and more squat than other zooids and are buddy frontally, not as part of a chain.
(Hayward and Ryland, 1998)

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