Epistomiidae

Bryozoans in this family form erect branching colonies. Autozooids are arranged in non-alternating pairs, in contact laterally; each comprises a slender proximal portion, which arises from the distal end of its parent zooid, traverses the basal side of the succeeding zooid as a slender tube, and expands to form the distal, operculate portion. Frontal surface largely membranous. Avicularia squat, swollen, with a small hooked mandible. Spines and ovicells absent. Embryos brooded in gonozooids. (Hayward and Ryland, 1998)