Re: Bryozoa pix /Bob Fenner       11/18/15 The first 3 pics without a doubt are Bryozoans. I got another reply from Jane. If Kevin says not a Bryozoans but sponge it is a sponge. She added after I sent another reply, which had her in doubt, was the "vivid color and sparky like appearance but the canals really do look sponge." I sent her another pic of a sponge ID to exact species that looks like yours but without the vivid color and sparkly look. She said that vividness and sparkly look is rather odd for a sponge but must be one. She is going to send it to another Bryozoan tax she knows. No word yet from Les yet. I can't count the times we as hobbyists, to include Taxonomist, are stumped and we get things wrong, where you would think they were easy. And most often it is Worms, Bryozoans, Sponges and Ascidians. And by far sponges being called ascidians or vice- versa. And then there are all those ID books and websites with wrong ID, were at times the pic has the wrong caption, a editing error. Then there are these divers coming up with the most bizarre <schist> you have ever seen, often never ID by anyone. It is like WTF is that. Boomer. <Ahh; thanks to all for your efforts. Bob Fenner>

LR ID, illiterati       8/18/12 hi found this thing stuck fast under a rock, it was found next to a smaller one. The big one is about 25mm long and about 10mm thick any ideas on what it is <Maybe a Bryozoan of some sort. Bob Fenner>

Bryozoan or Sponge? Please ID 4/30/12 Hi Crew... <Hi, Gretchen, Felicia here> Could this be some type of sponge? <My first reaction to the photo was that it is a Bryozoan. Could be a type of sponge, though.> It seems to have grown rather quickly. If it's not a sponge, is it safe or should I kill it?  <Whether it's sponge or Bryozoan, it's not a threat to your livestock. I would keep it!> It's actually rather pretty. http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww227/wontonflip/125gallon/DSC00694.jpg  Tank is a 125g FOWLR (ok, except for some mushrooms that hitchhiked on the rock), and it's been up for 3 years. Thanks! Gretchen Re: Bryozoans 5/1/12  Thanks Felicia!  Looked it up, and you're right, it might be a Bryozoan.  I poked it and it had a hard shell  :) <Glad to be of service, Gretchen. Thank you for the picture; these are lovely animals. You may wish to read http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bryozoanfaqs.htm  to further satisfy your curiosity. Enjoy!> -G- Please identify this white growth    5/1/12 Hi Crew... <Gretchen> Could this be some type of sponge?  It seems to have grown rather quickly. If it's not a sponge, is it safe or should I kill it?  It's actually rather pretty. http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww227/wontonflip/125gallon/DSC00694.jpg Tank is a 125g FOWLR (ok, except for some mushrooms that hitchhiked on the rock), and it's been up for 3 years. Thanks! Gretchen <Mmm, likely some sort of Bryozoan... see here: http://wetwebmedia.com/bryozoans.htm the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Cleaning Bryozoan skeletons   9/1/06 Hello WetWebMedia Crew, <Adam> Firstly, I've read through your articles on cleaning coral skeletons and have a good idea of what to do but I still have a few questions. I recently collected some dead calcareous Bryozoan skeletons from the beach which had been washed up after a storm and I would like to clean them and use them as decoration in my seahorse tank. They were definitely dead but there was still some organic material from where they had been attached to seagrass rhizomes as well as dead sponges, ascidians etc attached to them which I picked out with a pair of tweezers. <Good> I soaked them for two days in clean fresh water, then boiled them and they are now sitting on a wire rack in the sun. I was a worried about using bleach because of their very porous nature and thought that it might be difficult to ensure that all the bleach was completely washed away. <Not so much an issue as the conjugate acid nature of bleaches... dissolving these calcium carbonate based skeletons...> They still smell very strongly of rotten sea life, will this go away after they have been left to bleach in the sun? <Possibly not for quite a long time...> Also, some of the pieces are a very attractively coloured in a deep purple colour, will the sun destroy this and if so would placing them under shade to dry out be ok? <Mmm, won't likely result in their being "cleaned"> Is there anything else I should do to make sure that it is safe to place in the aquarium? <I would "experiment" with dilute bleach (sodium hypochlorite) solution (either that used for clothing/washing or the pool/spa industry), with different dilutions... and rinse/soak for a day after exposure, change the water out (for all new/fresh) and dose with a "dechlorinator" (or make your own...) a few concentrations more than directions... let soak another day... This should do it... though you can/could test for free chlorine still present...> Here is a link to a photo of the type of thing am dealing with. http://bio.fsu.edu/~bsc2011l/bryzoan_images_sum_04/Calcareous-bryozoan.jpg Yours Sincerely Adam Harbeck <Bob Fenner>

Photo use Mr. Fenner, <Judy (yes am that old to repeat your name a few more times, sigh> The Shawnee County Conservation District respectfully requests permission to use the Bryozoan, Iodictyum sp. photo from the Wet Web Media web site.  We are making a display of fossils with pictures of the actual animal when it was alive (or something close with what they look like now.)  May we please use the attached photo? <You may indeed. Please make it known if you folks want a different format, resolution, re-scan. Thank you for your efforts. Bob Fenner> Thank you, Judy Boltman District Manager Shawnee County Conservation District Topeka, KS

Bryozoa Down the Drain Hello, I have a question I hope you can help me with. Bryozoa is fast becoming a problem at water and wastewater treatment facilities across the USA. I know there are some species that are freshwater only, but are you aware of any studies or projects on the effects of the saltwater hobby and byproducts of us cleaning our aquariums and flushing it down the drain? <Mmm, interesting. Bryozoans, Aschelminths period are a rarity in our interest. Most all perish in the rigors of collection of the hard substrates they colonize> I work for a municipality in the metro Phoenix area and have witnessed an outbreak of Bryozoa in the last 5 to 10 years that was not present before that. Are there any species which might live in both fresh and salt water? I cannot help but believe we may be a part of the problem. Thank you, A.J. <Not as far as I'm aware. Wouldn't take much to find out. Here's my pitch on doing literature searches: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/litsrchart.htm Get thee to a large (college) library! Bob Fenner>

Re: Bryozoa Thanks for the response Bob. A group of wastewater professionals are meeting in the Phoenix area next month to discuss Bryozoa and other treatment challenges and we are hoping some of the legwork may already be done and available to us. <Me too. Ah, reminds me of happy meetings with friends in organizations like the "Aquatic Plant Management Society"... a great mix of "old-timer" scientists, technicians, folks who "did" the work... very enjoyable and great learning, sharing experiences> Love your new book and really enjoyed meeting you and Anthony at our Desert Marine Society meeting. <Ahh! Now I remember!> Can't wait until the others in the series come out. Any idea on the release dates? <Perhaps a year in-between each... Poor Anthony going over my poor initial drafts, my poring through his verbose re-writes (he actually has an advanced degree in literature!?)... then poor Christine doing the layouts!!! Sheesh, amazing they get done at all. Thank you for asking. Bob Fenner> Thanks,
A.J.

Bryozoan Algae? Hi guys- I have an opportunity to obtain a red Bryozoan. I have seen a photo of it and it kind of looks like a Fauchea Sp. (Dark red macro algae). How would you tell them apart? <Upon close examination (just with your eyes, no scope) you will notice that bryozoans are much more "stiff" than what you have shown here... which looks like a red algae> I was on your Bryozoan page but the photos don't show up. It said I need a username and password from Tuskfish. wetwebfotos.com. Attached are photos of it. I am buying it from someone from another state and will not be able to actually see it in person. What should I ask in order to confirm its identity? If it is a Bryozoan, what would you recommend regarding care - feeding, placement, water flow, etc.? Thanx, Tim <Please see here re bryozoans: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bryozoans.htm elsewhere on WetWebMedia.com re Fauchea. Bob Fenner>

Bryozoan care Also, what about the bryozoans? Do they need any special care? Are they photosynthetic? Thanks! <Check here (toward the bottom of the page) and beyond: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/. Also found boo-koo hits on www.google.com. Don