A Fascinating Hydroid

I first encountered this little critter on a dive in Terrigal Haven. I was searching through some kelp looking for Tommy Fish (Limnichthys fasciatus - a small sand-diving fish, unbelievably fast and hard to find) in sandy areas between the kelp beds. On the underneath side of a piece of kelp I noticed his odd cone shaped, bright orange critter moving.

Candelabrum australe is described as a rare species known only from southern Australian waters. It is an active solitary hydroid, with a cone shaped to cylindrical body into 3 region. It has a circular basal region, the elongate body as the mid-region, then with a circular mouth. The body can be very active, almost worm like. covered in a number of types of nematocysts. It is bisexual and releases larvae.

Since coming across this critter in The Haven, I found purple ones at both the Skillion Cave as well as Jeff's Reef sites. On one occasion, I found two together who were very animated, I can only presume breeding.

Keep an eye out for these guys, they are very cool.