[5][6] B. neritina is of biomedical interest because it harbors a bacterial symbiont that produces a group of bioactive compounds with potential applications in the treatment of numerous diseases.

[11] In their life cicle, a zooid is originated by sexual reproduction and develops the colony by budding, the fixation is done the whole year, with exception of the period of mid-winter, by the lecithotrophic larva.

[5] The Bugula neritina species is inserted in the clade Lophophorata due to the presence of a lophophore, a feeding structure that is the synapomorphy characteristic of the group.

[5] Bugula neritina is of interest from a drug discovery perspective because its bacterial symbiont, Candidatus Endobugula sertula,[7] produces the bryostatins, a group of around twenty bioactive natural products.

The bryostatins are under investigation for their therapeutic potential directed at cancer immunotherapy,[14][8] treatment of Alzheimer's disease,[8][15] and HIV/AIDS eradication,[9] due to their low toxicity and antineoplastic activity.