• Over 4000 species known worldwide, mostly marine
• Over 20 known from BC, with at least one documented in fresh water
• Likely a native species
• Masses becoming more common in warmer summers
• Sensitive to petroleum contamination and to sediment/debris deposition

Identification Tips:

• Large, firm, gelatinous masses attached to underwater objects
• Most visible in late summer

Life History:

• Colonial filter feeders
• Each animal (zooid) is embedded in a gelatinous matrix
• Retractable tentacles around perimeter (lophophore) used to capture drifting food
• Colonies disintegrate in fall
• Release dormant statoblasts, from which colony reforms the following spring

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Primary Information Source:
Voshell, J. Reese. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. Blacksburg, Virginia.