About

Hornwrack is a bryozoan - a colony of individual animals known as zooids. If you look closely at the hornwrack, you will see it is a mesh of little boxes; each of which is home to an individual zooid. The zooids filter feed on phytoplankton using special feeding tentacles called a lophophore. Hornwrack grows in bushy clumps attached to shells, stones, cobbles or rocky seabeds and is a pale beige colour. They only grow during spring and summer, resulting in distinct growth lines. Hornwrack might not look that tasty to you, but it is a favourite food of sea urchins, sea slugs and even sea spiders!