Diet

• Colony: Amathia verticillata is a colonial bryozoan, not a plant or alga. Each colony consists of many microscopic individual animals called zooids.

• Zooids: Each zooid is a filter feeder, using a crown of fine tentacles called a lophophore to capture phytoplankton and other tiny suspended particles from the water.

• The species can therefore remove substantial quantities of suspended food particles from the surrounding water as colonies become large.

Range

• Amathia verticillata is a widespread marine bryozoan in the family Vesiculariidae, order Ctenostomatida.

• It occurs in tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate marine waters around the world.

• It is occasionally sighted in Zihua, particularly in sheltered coastal waters where suitable hard surfaces and marine vegetation are present.

Habitat

• Usually found in shallow coastal marine environments, including rocky bottoms, seagrass beds, mangroves, marinas and areas containing submerged structures.

• Colonies attach to rocks, wood, shells, vegetation, submerged ropes, docks, boats and other artificial structures.

• Around Zihua, look in protected bays, marinas and shallow rocky or vegetated areas, particularly on submerged structures.

• Colonies can become particularly conspicuous where water movement brings a steady supply of suspended food.

Size

• Colony: Can form extensive, bushy masses tens of centimetres across and sometimes more than 1 metre in extent.

• Branches: Slender, translucent and flexible, often only around 1–2 mm thick.

• Individual zooids: Only about 0.4–0.6 mm long, making them impossible to distinguish individually without magnification.

• Colonies can appear transparent, whitish, yellowish, greenish or slightly brown, depending on conditions and the material trapped within them.