Can Bryozoans Be Shaped Around a Tree?

Description

• There are more than 5,000 species of bryozoans still living. Many more than are in fossilized form. The organisms come in many shapes in their colonized groupings. The calcite secreted by the individual organisms sculpts into a protective cover and home for them. Bryozoans may be fan shaped, fingerlike, spiral, mats, rocklike mounds or other forms. Fossilized species are found in limestone. The species has horseshoe-shaped or circular mouthparts called lophophores.

Fossil Uses

• Use bryozoan fossils as part of a rockery around the tree. Position them so they are obvious and visible on top of the rockery. Fossils make an interesting addition to a stone wall or in a paving project. Imbedding them in concrete protects and highlights them. Use a cement form and pour individual stepping-stones with the fossilized moss animals positioned as central focal points. Protect the fossils from damage.

Living Bryozoans

• Some consider living bryozoans nuisances. They coat pilings, warfs, and the bottoms of ships and piers. The freshwater bryozoans have a softer coating and create floating, jellylike rafts that clog public or industrial intakes. The colonies may be as small as a couple of inches or several feet across. The individual organisms are only a fraction of an inch long. Cheliostomata are the largest living group of bryozoans. This diverse group includes autozooids and heterozooids, which are nonfeeding bryozoans.

Benefits

• Bryozoans may brighten up your landscape in their fossilized form but also have other important uses. One of the many compounds produced by the organisms is a beneficial anticancer drug. It is produced by a common marine bryozoan and is called bryostatin 1. Bryozoids are also useful as marine filters. It is estimated that each zooid can filter 0.30 oz. of water per day.