Out and about

A few weeks ago, I decided to try photographing some bryozoans in the field.  It worked pretty well, and the images were interesting enough that I'll likely try again. 

Bryozoans are colonial — it's possible you've noticed them growing as low rough patches on intertidal rocks or seaweeds.  But the animals making up the colony are pretty small, and are not easy to see with the naked eye (it's much easier to appreciate them under a microscope!).  

However, I tried using the "microscope mode" on my little waterproof camera in a shallow tidepool and you could see lots of feeding bryozoans with their bell-like tentacles extended into the water.
Here's an example of Derby Hat Bryozoan (Eurystomella bilabiata) from the field:

 

I've shown some microscope images of this species before, so if you'd like to compare (or to review introductory information about bryozoans), check out these earlier posts: "Pretty in pink" from 15 February 2012 and "Pretty in pink #2" from 1 July 2013.