Victorella pavida

Taxobox


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Bryozoa
classis = Gymnolaemata
ordo = Ctenostomatida
familia = Victorellidae
genus = Victorella
species = "V. pavida"
binomial = "Victorella pavida"
binomial_authority = Saville Kent, 1870

Victorella pavida or trembling sea mat is a bryozoan found in shallow waters of low or fluctuating salinity, such as lagoons and estuaries. In summer (the growing season) it can have the appearance of velvet. The zooids may be from 0.3 mm to 1 mm in length.cite web|url=http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/Victorellapavida.htm|title=Basic information for Victorella pavida (Trembling sea mat)|last=Carter|first=Michelle|coauthors=Jackson, Angus|date=2007|work=Marine Life Information Network for Britain & Ireland|publisher=Marine Biological Association|accessdate=2008-06-24]

Swanpool, near Falmouth is the only location in the British Isles at which "Victorella pavida" is found, and it is a protected animal under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. [cite web|url=http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=809266|title=Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69)|work=The UK Statute Law Database|publisher=The Ministry of Justice|accessdate=2008-06-24] It is common in the Mediterranean Sea, and has also been reported in the North Sea (on the European Mainland), the Baltic, the Black Sea, India, Japan, Brazil, and the eastern United States. [cite web|url=http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/adult_distrib_Victorellapavida.htm|title=Habitat preferences and distribution for adult Victorella pavida (Trembling sea mat)|last=Carter|first=Michelle|coauthors=Jackson, Angus|date=2007|work=Marine Life Information Network for Britain & Ireland|publisher=Marine Biological Association|accessdate=2008-06-24]

Further reading

Wm. S. Kent " [http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/s2-10/37/34 Memoirs: On a New Polyzoon, "Victorella Pavida," from the Victoria Docks, Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, s2-10: 34-39] ". The paper in which Saville-Kent first described the species.

References