Ross Coral

Pentapora foliacea

Ross coral (Pentapora foliacea) is the largest bryozoan found in British waters, despite its misleading common name as it is not a true coral but a colony of tiny filter-feeding animals called zooids. Colonies can reach 30 cm or more in diameter and form distinctive wavy, leaf-like fronds resembling orange-brown lettuce or potato crisps. Each colony consists of millions of individual zooids, each less than 1 mm in size, that extend tiny tentacle crowns (lophophores) to filter plankton from the water. Found attached to rocky substrates and wrecks at depths of 10-80 meters, they prefer areas with moderate current flow. Colonies are slow-growing and extremely fragile, easily damaged by anchors, fishing gear, or careless divers. Their intricate structure provides habitat for many small invertebrates. They are an important indicator of healthy sublittoral rocky habitats in the northeastern Atlantic and are a fascinating subject for divers interested in the diversity of marine colonial organisms.