[2] Bugulina turbinata is a colonial bryozoan that forms small bushy clumps, up to 6 cm (2 in) in height.

These are orange or pale brown, and are attached to a hard substrate by an extension of the rhizoids at the base.

The lophophore consists of thirteen tentacles and the avicularia is rounded and projects like a bird's head with a hooked beak, just below the spines.

[2] Developing embryos of Bugulina turbinata are retained within a brood chamber, and the larvae are only free-swimming for a short period of less than 36 hours.

Bugulina turbinata is one of the species that form a bryozoan "turf", along with Bicellariella ciliata and Bugulina flabellata, on steep or vertical, moderately wave-exposed rock, round the coasts of Britain just below the littoral zone; this habitat tends to be dominated by aggregations of the jewel anemone Corynactis viridis and the cup coral Caryophyllia smithii.