The only reliable means of distinguishing between Thyroscyphus fruticosus and Thyroscyphus torresii in situ is in the slightly more straggling colonies and pink colour of T. fruticosus while T. torresii is tidier in aspect and is honey brown in colour.
Colonies of up to 10 stems to 150 mm high.
Hydrorhiza a tangled mass of tough tubes embedded in substrate. Stem and branches stiff, monosiphonic, proximal part of stem athecate; branching irregular, predominantly in one plane, usually almost perpendicular to stem, no division into nodes, tubular in section, each segment widening to a short, proximally swollen apophysis supporting a hydrotheca. Perisarc of stem and branches very thick and smooth.
Hydrothecae strictly alternate on opposite sides of stem and branches, one in axil of branch; hydrotheca inclined upwards on a short thick pedicel, smooth or with one or two constrictions, tubular, asymmetrical, abcauline wall straight, adcauline wall convex, widest at proximal third, both walls narrowing slightly but distinctly behind margin; diaphragm distinct, marked by a circular shelf in perisarc tilted obliquely downwards; margin circular, rim thickened, an internal band of tissue below margin at narrowest point of hydrothecal body, margin sometimes with four almost imperceptible equidistant cusps, sometimes with one or two renovations. Operculum delicate, of four equal triangular valves.
Gonothecae borne on a short, thick pedicel below hydrothecal apophyses on stem and branches, larger than hydrotheca, top-shaped, tilted downwards, perisarc thick, smooth to rather lumpy, distal end obliquely truncated, sealed by a plug of tissue. Gonophore distal in gonothecal cavity.
Colour: Stem and branches of live colonies honey brown, hydrothecae and gonothecae rose pink; colony yellow-brown when preserved.
Mediterranean Sea, Indo-West Pacific, Timor Sea, New Zealand, Australia.
Subtidal, on rocky substrates.