Bugula fulva

Bugula fulva is an erect bryozoan that forms dense, non-spiralling tufts, between 2-3 cm in height. The colonies are composed of a number of fan-shaped shoots that are dichotomously divided into flat branches. The colony is yellowish-brown when alive, turning grey when dried.

The species colonises the underside of boulders and Laminaria holdfasts on the shore and stones and other bryozoan species in subtidal waters down to 70 m. Small modified zooids which resemble rootlets (rhizoids) are used to attach to the colony to the substrate.

The species is distributed around the coasts of England and Wales, extending south to the Mediterranean and the western Atlantic. It appears to be absent from Scotland.