Hydrozoer: Hydractiniidae.
  • Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike | Joan J. Soto-Àngel

Hydractiniidae is a family of marine hydrozoans (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) that contains approximately 120 valid species worldwide, 10 of which live in Norwegian waters. Hydractiniids are common and widespread, but most of them are small and often go unnoticed. Only a couple of species are easily encountered by beachgoers and scuba divers, in particular the club-headed hydroid (Clava multicornis) and the snail fur (Hydractinia echinata). Many hydractiniids live in association with other marine organisms and play important ecological roles as symbionts and predators, while other species are used in biomedical research as models for the study of cell communication and regeneration.

Hydractiniidae L. Agassiz, 1862
Creative Commons Attribution | Lara Beckmann | Joan J. Soto-Àngel | Aino Hosia | Luis Martell | Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, Universitetet i Bergen