CreatureData

Red crust

Cryptosula pallasiana (Moll, 1803)

Status not recordedother invertebrates

The red crust (Cryptosula pallasiana) is a species in the family Cryptosulidae, order Cheilostomatida.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the red crust

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the red crust live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the red crust as introduced in 4 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.

  1. Mexicoinvasive
  2. Argentina
  3. New Zealand
  4. South Africa

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the red crust endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the red crust classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumBryozoa
  3. classGymnolaemata
  4. orderCheilostomatida
  5. familyCryptosulidae
  6. genusCryptosula
  7. SpeciesCryptosula pallasiana (Moll, 1803)

Synonyms Cribrilina pallasiana, Eschara pallasiana, Lepralia pallasiana, Lepralia pedilostoma, Lepralia pediostoma

Other names and names in other languages (7)
  • Keyhole bryozoanEnglish
  • Pearly bryozoanEnglish
  • Flaches Krusten-MoostierchenGerman
  • Cryptosule clocheFrench
  • 숨은이끼벌레Korean
  • Pallas' mosdiertjeDutch
  • Petit bryode croûte-rondeFrench

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the red crust

Other species in the same genus Cryptosula.

CompareRed crust vs Cryptosula cylindricaRed crust vs Cryptosula okadaiRed crust vs Cryptosula reticulataRed crust vs Cryptosula terebrata

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the red crust an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the red crust as invasive in 1 country: Mexico. It lists it as introduced in 4 in all.

What kind of animal is the red crust?

The red crust (Cryptosula pallasiana) belongs to the family Cryptosulidae in the order Cheilostomatida.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Red crust (Cryptosula pallasiana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-crust

MLA

“Red crust (Cryptosula pallasiana).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-crust.

BibTeX
@misc{red_crust_2026,
  title = {Red crust (Cryptosula pallasiana)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-crust},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}