#4987 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Christmas Tree Hydroid
Pennaria disticha
🪼 Jellyfish, starfish, worms & co 📍 in Europe, not in NL
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Stergios Vasilis · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 2. © Kerry Lewis · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © David Spencer Muirhead · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © David R · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © David Spencer Muirhead · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © David Spencer Muirhead · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © sea-kangaroo · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 8. © Falk Viczian Solarboot-Projekte gGmbH · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © sea-kangaroo · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 10. © Vishal Bhave · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
what is it?
Pennaria disticha is a species of athecate hydroid in the family Pennariidae. Colonies are common in the Mediterranean Sea growing on rocks close to the surface. This species has been used in research into prey capture.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 2,785 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Georg August Goldfuss in 1820 (206 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Christmas Tree Hydroid
- scientific name
- Pennaria disticha
- class
- Hydrozoa
- order
- Anthoathecata
- family
- Pennariidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings in Europe
- 428
- sightings worldwide
- 2,785
- GBIF records in NL
- 1
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1820 by Georg August Goldfuss
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 195464, Wikidata Q2591429, GBIF 5185730, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.