It is wider than the trunk which is covered with small dots and can be cream, pink, brown or violet.

The trunk may be stalk-like and up to ten centimetres tall, or shaped more like a trumpet.

There are more than 500 short, flaccid tentacles which may be a plain colour, banded or speckled.

It may grow in rock pools, often with the base and column concealed in a crevice, or it may be found in muddy gravel where it is anchored to a stone or other sub-surface object.

In this case, the tentacles are the only part that project and the whole animal can be withdrawn into the substrate if danger threatens.