Biodiversity of Cyprus by NGO Protection of the Natural Heritage and the Biodiversity of Cyprus

The Bryozoa, also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals,[6] are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest are colonial.

The phylum was originally called "Polyzoa", but this term was superseded by "Bryozoa" in 1831. Another group of animals discovered subsequently, whose filtering mechanism looked similar, was also included in "Bryozoa" until 1869, when the two groups were noted to be very different internally. The more recently discovered group was given the name Entoprocta, while the original "Bryozoa" were called "Ectoprocta". However, "Bryozoa" has remained the more widely used term for the latter group.
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Underwater photo Protaras, 8.05.2016 by Costas Constantinou

Sphaerechinus granularis is a species of sea urchin in the family Toxopneustidae, commonly known as the purple sea urchin. Its range includes the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean.

S. granularis is a large sea urchin, somewhat flattened dorsally and growing to fifteen centimetres in diameter. There are two distinct colour forms. The test is purple in both but one has purple spines and the other white. The spines are short and blunt, all the same length, and arranged neatly in rows

S. granularis is found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the Channel Islands south to Cape Verde and the Gulf of Guinea. It favours sheltered locations and lives on rocks covered with seaweed or gravelly substrates. It is usually found in the neritic zone down to about thirty metres but occasionally down to a hundred metres in more exposed locations. It is also found in meadows of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica

S. granularis often covers itself with morsels of algae and shell fragments, which are held in place by the tube feet and by the claw-like structures known as pedicellaria. It grazes on algae, especially encrusting coralline algae, seagrass blades and their epiphytic organisms and detritus.

Spawning takes place at any time of year but the peak period is spring and early summer. Eggs and sperm are liberated into the water column, where fertilisation takes place. The larvae are planktonic. After several moults, the echinopluteus larva settles and undergoes metamorphosis before developing into a juvenile.

In Tunisia, S. granularis is found living in association with two other species of sea urchins, Centrostephanus longispinus and Paracentrotus lividus. It is preyed upon by the starfish Marthasterias glacialis and Luidia ciliaris.

The gonads of S. granularis are considered a delicacy in Italy, Provence and Catalonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Underwater photo Protaras, 8.05.2016 by Costas Constantinou

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