Life history and environmental inference through retrospective morphometric analysis of bryozoans: a preliminary study

A preliminary comparative analysis of colony growth and zooid size in the p erennial bryozoan Flustra foliacea (Bryozoa: Cheilostomatida) reveals reduc ed colony growth in the Bay of Fundy relative to growth in the Menai Strait s and the Skagerrak, while seasonal fluctuations in zooid size are in synch rony with temperature regimes. Such retrospective morphometric analyses may allow inferences of primary productivity and thermal regimes and provide i nsights into the life histories of both Recent and fossil bryozoans.