Yellow Reteporella grimaldii

In this video we are exploring a typical rocky wall of the Mediterranean Sea from two to three meters high at a depth ranging from 39 to 42 meters deep. Here we can meet organisms such as sponges, starfish, sea urchins, red coral, parazoanthus and bryozoans. In the video we stopped for a few seconds on a Yellow Reteporella grimaldii.

Reteporella grimaldii is a bryozoan of the Phidoloporidae family, these small organisms live in colonies that form very fragile calcareous structures in the shape of “lace” or lace. It is a rather common encounter but one that always fascinates and reminds us how complex and varied life is in our seas. Trina di mare gialla Reteporella grimaldii intothblue.it

Reteporella grimaldii is common throughout the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, up to about 50 meters deep on hard bottoms, in semi-darkness, often on coralligenous.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reteporella_grimaldii

The Bryozoa phylum or, more correctly, Ectoprocta, is composed of small aquatic invertebrate animals, almost exclusively marine, which live in arborescent colonies anchored to a submerged substrate.

Distribution and habitat The Bryozoans live fixed on rocky but also sandy and silty bottoms, they prefer tropical marine environments, however due to their worldwide distribution they can be defined cosmopolitan.

Bryozoans are also called encrusting organisms as they cause encrustations on the hulls of ships and on submerged marine structures.

Most marine species live in tropical waters less than 100 meters deep. However, some have been found in deep-water pits, mostly around cold currents, and others near the poles. The great majority are sessile. Encrusting forms are most common in shallow seas, but upright forms become more common with increasing depth. Some forms such as Cristatella can move, and an Antarctic species, Alcyonidium pelagosphaera, consists of floating colonies. The pelagic species have a diameter between 5 and 23 mm, have a hollow sphere shape and consist of a single layer of autozooids. It is not yet known whether these colonies are pelagic throughout their life cycle or if they represent only a temporary and not yet described juvenile stage.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryozoa