Barentsia
| Barentsia | |
|---|---|
| Barentsia laxa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Entoprocta |
| Family: | Barentsiidae |
| Genus: | Barentsia Hincks, 1880 |
Barentsia is a genus of Entoprocta belonging to the family Barentsiidae. They are sessile colonial organisms composed of many individual cup shaped "heads" at the end of long thin stalks, ringed with small cilia. Like all members of Entoprocta (lit. 'inside rectum/anus'), both their mouth and anus are found in at the end of their stalks. The genus was first described in 1880.
They feed primarily on phytoplankton and reproduce sexually between individual zooids but are also capable of asexual reproduction. Size differs between species, but individual zooid height can be up between 1 and 30mm.