What is a bryozoan?

Answer 1

Bryozoans are tiny colonial animals that generally build stony skeletons of calcium carbonate, superficially similar to coral (although some species lack any calcification in the colony and instead have a mucilaginous structure.) Bryozoa are also known as moss animals or moss animacules (which is the literal Greek translation of bryozoa) or as sea mats. They generally prefer warm, tropical waters, but are known to occur worldwide. There are about 8,000 living species, with several times that number of fossil forms known.

Answer 2

A bryozoan is a colony-dwelling aquatic invertebrate that resembles coral. They filter feed on microscopic organisms using a lophophore, a crown of ciliated tentacles, to capture food. Bryozoans play important roles in marine ecosystems as food sources and habitat providers.

Answer 3

Their diet consists of small microorganisms, including diatoms and other mostly unicellular organisms.