''Bougainvillia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

hydroids Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish. Some hydroids such as the freshwater '' Hydra'' are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate. When these produce buds, ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Bougainvilliidae Bougainvilliidae is a family of marine hydroids in the class Hydrozoa. Members of the family are found worldwide. There are sixteen accepted genera and about ninety-three species. Description Hydroids in this family can be solitary or colonial. ...

in the

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

Hydrazoa. Members of the genus are characterised by having the marginal

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s of their

medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

e arranged in four bundles. Some species are solitary and others are colonial but all are

filter feeder Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a s ...

s. They are found in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

, having a circumpolar distribution, but some species also occur in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

, possibly travelling there as polyps on the hulls of ships.''Bougainvillia sp''.
Guide to the marine zooplankton of south east Australia. Retrieved 2011-12-02.

Species

The World Register of Marine Species lists the following

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

: *'' Bougainvillia aberrans'' Calder, 1993 *'' Bougainvillia aurantiaca'' Bouillon, 1980 *'' Bougainvillia balei'' Stechow, 1924 *'' Bougainvillia bitentaculata'' Uchida, 1925 *'' Bougainvillia bougainvillei'' (Brandt, 1835) *'' Bougainvillia britannica'' (Forbes, 1841) *'' Bougainvillia carolinensis'' (Mccrady, 1859) *'' Bougainvillia chenyapingii'' Xu, Huang & Guo, 2007 *'' Bougainvillia crassa'' Fraser, 1938 *'' Bougainvillia dimorpha'' Schuchert, 1996 *'' Bougainvillia frondosa'' Mayer, 1900 *'' Bougainvillia fulva'' Agassiz & Mayer, 1899 *'' Bougainvillia inaequalis'' Fraser, 1944 *'' Bougainvillia involuta'' Uchida, 1947 *'' Bougainvillia lamellata'' Xu, Huang & Liu, 2007 *'' Bougainvillia longicirra'' Stechow, 1914 *'' Bougainvillia longistyla'' Xu & Huang, 2004 *'' Bougainvillia macloviana'' Lesson, 1836 *'' Bougainvillia meinertiae'' Jäderholm, 1923 *'' Bougainvillia multitentaculata'' Förster, 1923 *'' Bougainvillia muscoides'' (Sars, 1846) *''

Bougainvillia muscus ''Bougainvillia muscus'' is a marine invertebrate, a species of hydroid (zoology), hydroid in the suborder Anthomedusae. Taxonomy In 1844, Pierre-Joseph van Beneden, van Beneden named the hydroid form of this species as ''Eudendrium ramosum''. S ...

'' (Allman, 1863) *'' Bougainvillia niobe'' Mayer, 1894 *'' Bougainvillia paraplatygaster'' Xu, Huang & Chen, 1991 *'' Bougainvillia platygaster'' (Haeckel, 1879) *'' Bougainvillia principis'' (Steenstrup, 1850) *'' Bougainvillia pyramidata'' (Forbes & Goodsir, 1853) *'' Bougainvillia reticulata'' Xu & Huang, 2006 *'' Bougainvillia rugosa'' Clarke, 1882 *'' Bougainvillia superciliaris'' (L. Agassiz, 1849) *'' Bougainvillia vervoorti'' Bouillon, 1995

References

Bougainvilliidae Hydrozoan genera {{anthoathecata-stub