Barentsia Hincks 1880

"Barentsia, nov. gen.
Generic character. Polypides with a cup-shaped body supported on a long peduncle, having a muscular enlargement at the base, the upper part fleshy and naked, the rest chitinous ; peduncles borne on an erect chitinous stem, bulbous at the base; the stems united by a creeping stolon, with a chitinous investment. The polypides of this very interesting form closely resemble those of Pedicellina; but it is separated from the latter genus by the singular structure of its zoarium. From the creeping stolon (which is more or less chitinous, and not, as in Pedicellina, a mere soft fleshy thread) rise at intervals tall chitinous stems terminating below in a somewhat bulbous enlargement. Along one side of the stems are placed at short distances from one another small bracket-like projections; and each of these supports a long peduncle with a polypide at its upper extremity. Immediately above the point of origin the peduncle is enlarged for a short distance, as in Pedicellina gracilis; and this portion is probably muscular in structure. Above the enlargement the peduncle is slender, and for a large proportion of its length composed of chitine; the terminal portion, however, immediately supporting the polypide is fleshy as in Pedicellina. Sometimes the main stem terminates above in two polypides (P1. XV. fig. 12). One of the most striking differences between Вarentsia and Pedicellina is the extent to which chitine enters into the structure of the former. In Pedicellina the whole colony is usually fleshy; the only exception is found in P. gracilis, which has the upper portion of the peduncle composed of a rigid (and probably chitinous) material." (Hinks, 1880:285)

Barentsia is a genus of Entoprocta belonging to the family Barentsiidae.

The genus has cosmopolitan distribution.