{"id":4015,"date":"2026-01-26T15:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cibsub.c.wetopi.com\/especie\/bioespecie_en-aplidium_elegans-28065"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:47:44","slug":"bioespecie_en-aplidium_elegans-28065","status":"publish","type":"especie","link":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/bioespecie_en-aplidium_elegans-28065","title":{"rendered":"Aplidium elegans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How does it look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a colonial ascidian. This means that what we see are many individuals (zooids) that live together and are enveloped by a common perforated tunic. We find two types of orifices, smaller ones (inhalant siphons) with 8 white lobes around them through which the water enters, and larger ones (exhalant siphons) through which it exits. It measures between 3 and 8 centimeters approximately. It has a fleshy appearance and its color varies from orange to pink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where does it live?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This colony lives attached to hard substrates such as rocks, either horizontally or vertically. It is normally found between 5 and 25 meters but specimens have been found up to 50m deep. It can be found at the western Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How does it feed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

All ascidians are filter feeders. The water enters through the inhalant siphon thanks to hairs that surround it and create a current. Then the water passes through a basket-shaped gill where the transported particles are retained and exits through the exhalant siphon. They have the same system for feeding, breathing and reproduction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do they reproduce?<\/strong><\/p>\n

They have two ways of reproduction, sexual and asexual. Sexual reproduction is based on hermaphroditism, each individual has both sexes but cannot self-fertilize. Fertilization is internal and indirect, which means that we can find a phase of swimming larvae that will later become ascidian. Asexual reproduction is by budding. The colony grows and reaches a point where it fragments voluntarily; this fragment gives rise to a new colony.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is a confusion possible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It can be confused with a species of the same genus called Aplidium nordmanni<\/em><\/a>. They differ because Aplidium nordmanni<\/em> forms more tubular structures and is larger (measuring 20cm in diameter and about 10cm in height). Also, the inhalant siphons of Aplidium nordmanni<\/em> have six lobes and those of Aplidium elegans<\/em> have 8. It also resembles Morchellium argus<\/em>, but is easily differentiated because it is a pedunculate ascidian.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Curiosities<\/strong><\/p>\n

· The genus of seaslugs Berghia<\/em><\/a> eats Aplidium elegans<\/em> when placed in aquaria.<\/p>\n

· It is also known as Sydnyum elegans<\/em>.<\/p>\n

· At first glance ascidians look like sponges but they are totally different groups. Ascidians are part of the urochordates, a sister group of vertebrates.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Taxonomy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Phylum: Chordata<\/em>, Subphylum: Urochordata<\/em>, Class: Ascidiacea<\/em>, Order: Enterogona<\/em>, Family: Polyclinidae<\/em>, Genus: Aplidium<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How does it look like? It is a colonial ascidian. This means that what we see are many individuals (zooids) that live together and are enveloped by a common perforated tunic. We find two types of orifices, smaller ones (inhalant siphons) with 8 white lobes around them through which the water enters, and larger ones […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4004,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"biofamilia":[898,1063],"biomarinatipus":[747],"class_list":["post-4015","especie","type-especie","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","biofamilia-biofamilia_en-19_sea_squirts-1604","biofamilia-colonial-sea-squirts","biomarinatipus-shallow-dive"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/especie\/4015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/especie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/especie"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"biofamilia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/biofamilia?post=4015"},{"taxonomy":"biomarinatipus","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cibsub.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/biomarinatipus?post=4015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}