Habitat 
Depth 
Group 
Role WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
It forms irregular rounded, sometimes lobed masses of variable dimensions and thickness. Circular openings, the oscula, are distributed over the surface and let water out.
Usual pink-brown to wine-red colour partly comes from cyanobacteria, photosynthetic bacteria in illuminated outer tissues. Shaded parts or whole individuals may be very pale.
WHERE DOES IT LIVE?
It attaches to rocks, walls and overhangs, and at cave entrances or inside caves. These habitats occur along French Mediterranean coasts. Diving descriptions record it from shallow water to several tens of metres.
Light contrasts can occur within one animal. A white patch is therefore not automatically a wound. Interpretation needs exposure, surface state and any consumer present.
WHAT DOES IT EAT?
It filters microscopic food and organic particles from water. Specialised cells drive pumping through its internal network.
Microbial communities also live in the tissues. Light-associated cyanobacteria are only part of these. Distinguish resident microbes from recently captured food and avoid describing every partnership as an exchange identical to corals with algae.
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