star polyp mat

[baddfish]

Hi...new to posting but have been reading forum for several months. Very helpful and friendly here from what I read.
I've had fish and live rock for several years, and am now getting in to some of the easier to handle corals.
Other than a base for the polyps to grow from, what part does the purple mat play in its growth? I can see that tiny little polyps sprout up from it, but does it adhere to surfaces, or just kind of sit there? Does it need light and flow like the polyps, or is it normally hidden below substrate or rock?

 

[bjohanson1234]

The mat is how the polyps grow. New ones sprout up from this mat as it grows over the rock.

If all you have is star polyps on a mat, take some superglue gel and glue it to a small rock. When the mat starts to grow, it will adhere to the rock.

 

[baddfish]

Thanks. Thats what I was wondering, if it grows on to the rock.