#  Expedition to Mt. Auburn 

 





July 13, 2017

 

 

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[Mount Auburn Cemetery](http://mountauburn.org/category/wildlife/) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is renowned as an urban wildlife habitat. Though it is especially famous for its birds, this summer an aquatic species has attracted attention. A spectacular bloom of bryozoan *Pectinatella magnifica* is now in progress in Willow Pond. Librarian Mary Sears joined graduate students from Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and Prof. Abigail Smith of the University of Otago for a freshwater bryozoan expedition on July 8, 2017. The group observed many colonies of *P. magnifica* anchored to sticks close to the shore, while others appeared as floating islands, resembling large bubbles. Bryozoans, or "moss animals" are primarily found in salt water, but a few species, such as P. magnifica, grow in freshwater ponds, pools, etc. Although the colonies can grow to 2 ft in diameter, each is composed of thousands of individual zooids, visible under magnification. Visit the Encyclopedia of Life for more information on [Pectinatella magnifica](http://www.eol.org/pages/601031/overview).

 

 

 

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