Barentsia robusta  Osburn, 1955

Common name(s):  Nodding heads

Synonyms:  Barentsia robusta
Class
Order Coloniales
Family Barentsiidae
Barentsia robusta, about 1 mm tall, growing on the plate of a subtidal barnacle.  The stalks and base are partly covered by attached diatoms and other debris.
(Photo by:  Dave Cowles, July 2008 )
Description:   The zooids of this species are connected by stolons.  The stalks are thin and unbranched and have a bendable muscular enlargement at the base but not elsewhere on the stalk.

How to Distinguish from Similar Species:  Other local entoproct species are not connected by stolons, or thick or have branching stalks, or have several bendable enlargements along the stalk.

Geographical Range:

Depth Range:

Habitat:

Biology/Natural History:   The muscular enlargements at the base of Barentsia entoprocts allow the stalks to bend at that point, and they seem to frequently "flick" themselves by bending at the base.  Unlike bryozoans, their tentacles cannot retract back into the calyx.  Instead, they fold down horizontally across the center of the calyx like the petals of a flower when it closes.



 

References:

Dichotomous Keys:
  Kozloff, 1987, 1996

General References:
 

Scientific Articles:
 


Web sites:


General Notes and Observations:  Locations, abundances, unusual behaviors:



Authors and Editors of Page:
Dave Cowles (2008):  Created original page
CSS coding for page developed by Jonathan Cowles (2007)