Sea mat
Sea mat is a small colony-forming polyp. It is often found on snail shells, sometimes inhabited by hermit crabs. The tentacles of the sea mat are responsible for making the house of a hermit crab look like it is covered in a layer of sandpaper.
Sea mats and hermit crabs both profit from living together. Enemies of the hermit crab are scared away by the material expelled by the sea mat, while the sea mat can consume remains of food left over by the hermit crab. Sometimes, the hermit crab is capable of expanding the mouth opening of the shell with the help of the sea mat, so that he does not need to move to a larger shell. In addition, since the hermit crab moves around, the sea mat is assured of finding sufficient food floating around.
If there is a specific place with sufficient food in the water, sea mat can also be found on shipwrecks.
Features
| size: | maximum 1.5 centimeters |
| color: | males white, females pink |
| food: | zooplankton and organic waste |
| enemies: | sea slug Cuthona nana (specialist) |
Distribution and habitat
Sea mat is commonly found in the North Sea, down to a depth of around 30 meters.
Names:
Dut: Zeerasp
Lat: Hydractinia echinata
Eng: Sea mat
Ger: Stachelpolyp
Dan: Bladmosdyr
