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Dieren en planten

Cnidarians   Polyps   Sea thread hydroid   Marine fauna   Fauna of the sea floor   Communities   

Sea thread hydroid

size:

around 50 centimeters

color:

dark brown trunk, light to colorless branches

food:

plankton

enemies:

sea slug Eubranchus exiguus

reproduction:

sexual and vegetative

  • Dut: Lange zeedraad
  • Lat: Obelia dichotoma
  • Eng: Sea thread hydroid, bushy wine-glass hydroid
  • Ger: Laomedea
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Sea thread hydroid, Erik van Ommen
photo medusen from: http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/

Sea thread hydroid

The sea thread hydroid is a colony-forming polyp. The colonies can be recognized by their strongly branched, horny threads. At the end of the branches are small tentacles, used for catching plankton. This species can wash ashore in massive amounts, particularly in the autumn. Sometimes, banks a half meter high are found. Another name for this animal is the bushy wine-glass hydroid.

  • Medusas

    In the summer, thin flat medusa jellyfish appear which have separated from the colony. When these jellyfish are around 1 centimeter large, they produce eggs from which new polyp colonies form. Both medusa and polyps can reproduce. And they can both move their tentacles rhythmically to bring food particles to their mouths.

  • Distribution and habitat

    The sea thread hydroid is a common species in the North Sea and Wadden Sea. It attaches itself to animals, plants and stones from the low-tide waterline down to around a depth of 100 meters.