Abstract:
Bryozoans are common animals in marine benthic (seabed) ecosystems, and also occur in freshwater rivers, with 6063 and 108 extant species in each environment respectively. There are 17,867 fossil species described. They are distributed across the oceans with a relatively high diversity on the Antarctic shelf. They are colonial suspension filter feeders with a calcified skeleton, a wide variety of life cycles and growth forms, and are well represented in the fossil record.