Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry
Puellina arrecta is an encrusting bryozoan. Colonies form small irregular patches, composed of a single layer of autozooids. Autozooids are oval to hexagonal, convex and separated by distinct grooves. They are typically 0.2-0.32 by 0.14-0.18 mm, with six oral spines.
The species is able to colonise dead shells or small hard substrates. It ranges from 20 m (Ria de Ferrol, NW Spain) to 524 m (NE Atlantic, Gulf of Cadiz), with all Mediterranean records from greater than 100 m.
Puellina arrecta is only known from European seas including: the English Channel, NE Atlantic from Brittany to the Gulf of Cadiz, the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean.
Puellina arrecta was first confused with Puellina flabellifera, to which it is most closely comparable. Puellina arrecta was precisely defined by Bishop and Househam (1987), who described the considerable differences in the form of the frontal shield between the two species. Puellina arrecta has a smaller rounded frontal shield that is more convex and irregular.