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Animal profile

Freshwater Bryozoan

Pectinatella magnifica

PhylactolaemataStill and slow-moving fresh water, attached to submerged wood and stems

Field profile

A colonial bryozoan that forms a gelatinous mass, sometimes larger than a football, studded with rosettes of feeding individuals. Each individual is only about a millimetre long. The bulk of the mass is secreted jelly rather than living tissue.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-05-25

Freshwater Bryozoan

The lake blob is thousands of animals

The gelatinous mass sometimes found on submerged branches is not an egg sac, a fungus or a single organism. It is a bryozoan colony: thousands of millimetre-long individuals sharing a secreted jelly matrix.

Read with evidence →

Freshwater Bryozoan | Daily Animal Facts