Bougainvillia

Bougainvillia is a genus of hydroids in the family Bougainvilliidae in the class Hydrazoa. Members of the genus are characterised by having the marginal tentacles of their medusae arranged in four bundles. Some species are solitary and others are colonial but all are filter feeders. They are found in the Southern Ocean, having a circumpolar distribution, but some species also occur in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly travelling there as polyps on the hulls of ships.