Sessile Hydrozoan

Synthecium tubithecum

• Group: Other
• Typical depth: 1–505 m

This colonial hydroid grows in fine branching stems across a startling depth range, from barely a metre down to around five hundred metres. It turns up in caves, on the offshore forereef slope, and on the tops of deep seamounts, feeding by catching plankton with its polyps.

Taxonomy: Animalia › Cnidaria › Hydrozoa › Leptothecata › Syntheciidae › Synthecium

Species data via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), AphiaID 285941.