What’s in the water? Freshwater bryozoans!

What’s in the water? Have you seen these gelatinous blobs in the lake? They’re called freshwater bryozoans, invertebrates that eat by filtering microscopic particles from the water like algae and bacteria. Each blob, or colony, consists of hundreds to thousands of individual animals and attaches to a solid surface under the water.

Not many animals eat bryozoans. Snails, some fish, aquatic insects, and raccoons will eat bryozoans, but they are a last-resort food for other animals. Colonies will disintegrate in the fall and overwinter as small seed-like statoblasts in the sediments, creating new individuals that will float around in the spring, then forming new colonies next summer.

Bryozoans are a sign of good water quality, so it’s great to see them in Watchic Lake!