Crystal Moss-animal
Lophopus crystallinus
Lophopus crystallinus, commonly known as the bellflower animal or crystal moss animal, is the first species ever described of the genus Lophopus, from the Lophopodidae family, and is the only member of the family that can be found in the UK.
From the article Lophopus crystallinus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The species are colonial, and have a gelatinous outer wall. They are fan shaped when viewed with the naked eye.
Range & habitat
The species is widely distributed in Europe. It can be found in as many as 62 lakes and rivers throughout the UK.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
What it does
The species life cycle is few months. They become dormant in September, and reproduce by winter. They die by March. However, in spring fed pools they could live and reproduce forever. Their sexual reproduction is quite rare, and is poorly known. They grow by budding with different kinds of zooids.
Wikipedia: “Life and reproduction”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Lophopus crystallinus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 483813.