Electra pilosa is an encrusting bryozoan species, common to the British intertidal zone and subtidal waters, down to approximately 50 m. The colonies form white circular, lobe- or star-shaped patches, several centimetres in diameter, often with a “hairy” appearance. E. pilosa is able to colonise shells, stones, the talli of red algae and the fronds of fucoid and kelp species. The shape and size of the colony is dependent on the substrata on which it is growing.

The species is widely distributed across the North Sea, the Wadden Sea, the north Atlantic and some Arctic and sub-Arctic regions (the White Sea and the Barents Sea). It is has been recorded from many British and European coasts, as well as from the Gulf on Maine. The species has also been recorded from New Zealand and Australia, where it is considered an introduced species.