# Hydra (*Hydra vulgaris*)

Hydras are tiny, freshwater creatures with tentacles that help them catch their food. They can regenerate if they're cut into pieces, making them amazing creatures to study!

- **Category:** [Invertebrate](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/invertebrate)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 2/5 · Low
- **Habitat:** Freshwater

![Hydra](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Hydravulgaris.jpg&width=800)

Photo: Corvana, CC BY-SA 3.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hydravulgaris.jpg)

## Appearance

The Hydra is a tiny, tube-shaped freshwater polyp, typically translucent white, green, or brown. It has a ring of slender tentacles around its mouth, which it uses to capture food. Its body is often attached to submerged surfaces.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Cnidaria
- **Class:** Hydrozoa
- **Order:** Anthoathecata
- **Family:** Hydridae
- **Genus:** Hydra

## Interesting facts

- Hydras lack a brain, heart, or lungs, yet survive complexly!
- Some Hydras can host tiny algae, making them look green!
- These tiny animals can even survive being frozen solid and thawing!
- They can stretch their bodies over ten times their usual length!

## Special abilities

- **Super Regrower:** Hydra can regrow its entire body from just a small piece because of potent stem cells that help them repair injuries.
- **Eternal Youth:** Hydra can continuously replace its cells, avoiding aging and potentially living indefinitely under ideal conditions.
- **Stun Gun Tentacles:** Hydra has specialized stinging cells (nematocysts) on its tentacles that help them paralyze tiny prey.

## Measurements & details

- **Length:** 10 mm
- **Tentacle Length Mm:** 20 mm

## Diet & Feeding

Tiny carnivores that ambush and sting small aquatic creatures using their tentacles.

- **Primary Foods:** Daphnia, Cyclops, rotifers, small insect larvae
- **Foraging Method:** Ambush

## Ecological connections

- **Hunts:** Water Flea (*Daphnia pulex*) — A common crustacean prey item.
- **Hunts:** Copepod (*Cyclops bicuspidatus*) — Actively captured by Hydra's tentacles.
- **Hunts:** Midge Larva (*Chironomus plumosus*) — Young midge larvae are food.

## Traits

- [Fossil](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/fossil): A fossil is the preserved remains or traces of an ancient organism embedded in rock or other geological deposits.
- [Miniature](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/miniature): Pertaining to species that are significantly smaller than typical or average for their kind.
- [Natural](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/natural): Natural refers to organisms, materials, or phenomena existing or produced by nature, not artificially created.
- [Regenerative](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/regenerative): Regenerative organisms possess the ability to regrow lost or damaged body parts, tissues, or organs.

## Collections

- [Curiosities](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/curiosities)

## Safety

**Danger:** 2/5 · Low

Do not touch hydras in the wild as they can sting. Always observe them from a safe distance.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Hydra?

Compare body symmetry, shells, segments, legs, tentacles and how the animal moves. Invertebrates span many unrelated groups, so start with body structure. Invertebrate Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How long is Hydra?

10 mm

### What does Hydra eat?

Tiny carnivores that ambush and sting small aquatic creatures using their tentacles.

### Where is Hydra usually found?

Freshwater

### How does Hydra hunt?

Ambush

### What is the tentacle Length Mm of Hydra?

20 mm

## More Invertebrate

- [Coral](https://www.snappit.app/explore/coral)
- [Crab Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/crab-spider) (*Mecaphesa asperata*)
- [Garden Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-spider) (*Araneus diadematus*)
- [Brown Recluse Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/brown-recluse-spider) (*Loxosceles reclusa*)

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Source: [Hydra: Characteristics, Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/hydra)