Polypide

{{one source|date=February 2024}}

The polypide in bryozoans encompasses most of the organs and tissues of each individual zooid. This includes the tentacles, tentacle sheath, U-shaped digestive tract, musculature and nerve cells. It is housed in the zooidal exoskeleton, which in cyclostomes is tubular and in cheilostomes is box-shaped. Polypides can undergo cycles of regression and regeneration, in which the zooid forms a new polypide as the old one accumulates waste and dies.{{cite journal |last1=Bayer |first1=Micha M. |last2=Todd |first2=Christopher D. |title=Evidence for Zooid Senescence in the Marine Bryozoan Electra pilosa |journal=Invertebrate Biology |date=1997 |volume=116 |issue=4 |pages=331–340 |doi=10.2307/3226865 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3226865 |issn=1077-8306|url-access=subscription }}