The tubular hydroid (''Ectopleura crocea'') is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
hydroid cnidaria
Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter.
Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that th ...
n, and is found in temperate coastal waters. It is a member of the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Tubulariidae
Tubulariidae is a family of hydroid cnidarians. For long placed in a presumed superfamily or infraorder Tubulariida of suborder Capitata, they are actually close relatives of the Hydridae and are now united with these and a number of relatives ...
.
Description
The tubular hydroid resembles a long-stemmed narrow-petalled flower. The stem is encased in a sheath. The polyps are pink or orange and white, with an outer ring of long tentacles. There are short tentacles surrounding the mouth rising from a cluster of yellow bead-like bunches of reproductive sporosacs.
[Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa''. .]
Distribution
This species is native to the Atlantic coast of North America, and also occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the west coast of North America.
[Fofonoff, P.W., Ruiz, G.M., Steves, B. and Carlton, J.T. 2003. National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System. http://invasions.si.edu/nemesis/ accessed 8 November 2013]
Ecology
Male and female sporosacs are on separate hydranths (feeding individuals) in the colony. These animals feed on tiny planktonic crustaceans.
Naomi A. H. Millard
Naomi Adeline Helen Millard, née Bokenham (16 July 1914, Green Point, Cape Town – 12 June 1997) was a South African biologist, one of the founders of the Zoological Society of South Africa and the Zoologica Africana Journal.
Life
Naomi Ade ...
, 1975. Monograph on the Hydroida of Southern Africa. ''Ann. S. Afr. Mus.'' 68:1-513
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1863375
Tubulariidae
Animals described in 1862