Characterization of the form and growth pattern of colonies in several freshwater bryozoans.

In all species of phylactolaemates, an individual successively produces daughter buds. Individual daughters are designated, according to the order of appearance, as first bud, second bud, and so on. The first bud appears precociously, while the mother is a pear-shaped vesicle. The idea of regarding a main bud, a duplicate bud, and an adventitious bud as a set is not tenable. In the budding region, the cystidal wall shows a constant wavy movement. In Plumatella colonies, branching occurs only when and where a bud of the second or higher order grows up to a zooid. A branch is composed of longitudinally arranged first zooids with the only exception being the most proximal one. The proportion of first zooids in a colony increases in the order of P. casmiana, P. emarginata, and P. repens. The frequency of branching, therefore, decreases in this order. The ancestrula germinated from the statoblast shows the highest activity of budding. The tendency that successively produced daughters of the ancestrula grow in alternate directions is most conspicuous in P. emarginata and least conspicuous in P. casmiana. Replacement budding occurs in these three species of Plumatella, but only under unfavorable culture conditions. The colony of Gelatinella toanensis is characterized by composite branches, each consisting of an axial branch composed of a series of first zooids and of stunted lateral branchlets. In Hyalinella punctata, multiple budding does not necessarily result in branching; zooids of different budding orders coexist in a branch. The genus Pectinatella comprises two species, P. gelatinosa and P. magnifica. Both produce massive colonies. In P. gelatinosa, the colony proper is sac-like with the convex basal wall, and the polypides can retract with the digestive tracts straight. Each individual (except the ancestrula) of this species produces a pair of daughter buds which are located bilaterally relative to the median sagittal plane of the mother. A left bud produces its first bud to the right, and vice versa. In P. magnifica, the colony proper is very thin and flat. When polypides are retracted, the digestive tracts are folded characteristically. Based on these and other results, phylogenetic relationships among the phylactolaemates are discussed.