|
How does it look like?
It forms massive colonies of rounded or conical shape of orange, yellowish or white color with patterns of the same darker color. Of fleshy consistency, its surface is smooth, and up to 20 centimeters in size. The constituent individuals, the zooids, are surrounded by a common non-calcified translucent mantle. They are elongated, up to 2 cm high, the gills have 15 to 20 slits.
Where does it live?
Common species, from 5 to 50m, where it appears on hard bottoms (rocks, shells), sand or gravel, illuminated and moderately shaded, and not very shaken. Also in Posidonia oceanica meadows (in its rhizomes) and detrital bottoms. In the western Mediterranean and Adriatic.
How does it feed?
It feeds on suspended organic matter: algae, detritus, plankton, inorganic matter, etc. Tunicates create a stream of water that they filter, since the food remains stuck in a mucus that they secrete. This mucus goes to the digestive tract.
Is a confusion possible?
Yes, it can be confused with other colonial ascidians such as Pseudodistoma obscurum.
Curiosities
· The crab Dromia personata sometimes holds it with the last pair of legs to camouflage itself.
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia, Subkingdom: Bilateria, Branch: Deuterostomia, Infra-kingdom: Chordonia, Phylum: Chordata, Subphylum: Tunicata, Class: Ascidiacea, Order: Enterogona, Suborder: Aplousobranchiata, Family: Policlinidae, Genus: Aplidium |
