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bryozoan

[brahy-uh-zoh-uhn]

adjective

belonging or pertaining to the Bryozoa.

noun

Also called moss animal. any sessile marine or freshwater animal of the phylum Bryozoa, forming branching, encrusting, or gelatinous mosslike colonies of many small polyps, each having a circular or horseshoe-shaped ridge bearing ciliated tentacles, occurring on algae or on shaded objects.

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Bryozoan is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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Compare ectoproct, entoproct.

Origin:
1870–75; Bryozo(a) + -an

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

bryozoan (ˌbraɪəˈzəʊən)

—n
1.	Popular name: sea mat any aquatic invertebrate animal of the phylum Bryozoa, forming colonies of polyps each having a ciliated feeding organ (lophophore)

—*adj*
2.	of, relating to, or belonging to the Bryozoa

[C19: from Greek bruon moss + zōion animal]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

bryozoan

(brī'ə-zō'ən) Pronunciation Key
Any of various small aquatic invertebrate animals of the phylum Bryozoa that are capable of forming vast mosslike or branching colonies attached to seaweed or hard surfaces. Bryozoans reproduce by budding and feed on minute particles of plankton that they capture with tentacles. They are probably related to the phoronids and are the only animal phylum that does not appear in the fossil record until the early Ordovician Period.

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polyzoarium polyzoic retepore sea moss stolon

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bryozoan

bry·o·zo·an