''Candelabrum tentaculatum'', also called the dreadlocks hydroid or calamari hydroid, is a
sessile marine
hydroid, that is found off the
Cape Peninsula of
South Africa.
[Millard, N.A.H. 1975. Monograph on the Hydroida of Southern Africa. ''Ann. S. Afr. Mus.'' 68:1-513][Jones, Georgina. (2008), ''Marine animals of the Cape Peninsula'' Southern Underwater Research Group Press, Cape Town. ]
Description
Naked cylindrical
hydranth up to about 70mm long, covered by densely packed short capitate
tentacles. Basal part carries a single
whorl
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
Whorls in nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...
of about 17 long unbranched
blastostyles, with
gonophores near the hydranth.
Species range
Endemic to South Africa, known only from the
Cape Peninsula and
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
in 10 to 30 m of water.
Identification
Pale off-white slightly tapering cylindrical certral part with rounded tip, covered with very short rounded tentacles. The base has a ring of long floppy reddish tentacles that drape over the substrate.
Dreadlocks hydroid at South Paw DSC00185.JPG, Small group off Clifton, Cape Town.
Dreadlocks Hydroids at Dreadlocks Reef P1308342.JPG, Large group off Oudekraal, Cape Town.
Dreadlocks hydroids at Klein Tafelberg DSC04266.JPG, ''Candelabrum tentaculatum'' on ''Laminopora jellyae'', off Hout Bay, Cape Town.
Natural history
Often found on pore-plated false corals ''
Laminopora jellyae''.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2295018
Candelabridae
Animals described in 1966