Trypostega venusta

Morphology: 

Trypostega venusta is an encrusting bryozoan. Colonies form thin broad sheets, semi-transparent to dull white in colour. Autozooids are oval to hexagonal or irregular in outline, with 30-40 pores across the calcified frontal surface. They are convex and range in size from 0.42-0.55 by 0.2-0.3 mm.

Distribution: 

Trypostega venusta was originally described from Guernsey, Channel Islands and was, until recently, believed to have a circum-global distribution in warm temperate and tropical waters. The majority of these records, however, belong to superficially similar species. Trypostega venusta has a relatively limited distribution in the NE Atlantic Ocean. It can be found from the southern British Isles, extending to Madeira and into the Mediterranean Sea. (Tilbrook, 2006)

Habitat: 

The species is able to colonise shells and coarse shell gravels. It occurs in offshore subtidal 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