The natural history of Bugula flabellata at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, including the behavior and attachment of the larva

The breeding season of Bugula flabellata extends from June 10th to November 15th. The young embryos develop in brood pouches (ovicells) and are finally expelled from the colony as swimming embryos. They come from the colonies at dawn or early morning. After a free‐swimming period of four to six hours, each larva becomes attached and after a profound metamorphosis which involves the loss of larval organs, it develops into the bryozoan colony by budding. The larvae at first are positive to light, but become negative before attachment. Their behavior is described in detail and the mode of attachment is explained. After the larva has become attached a period of rapid growth by budding ensues. The rate of growth is given in a table in which it is shown that the first individual of the colony is completed in two days and that a new series of buds is formed every two days. There are eight or ten individuals after one week and over a hundred in two weeks. In one month the colony is half‐grown and becomes sexually mature. A colony becomes senescent in three months, when it measures 112 to 134 inches in diameter. Younger colonies hibernate successfully and resume growth in early May, when new polypides are formed.