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Project Noah Nature School
Clavelina cylindrica
A tunicate/ascidian or sea squirt social colony with the individuals attached at their bases. Pic 1 shows the tunicates with a wide open siphon and a purple streak (endostyle) which is a ciliated groove producing mucus to take in food. Pic 3 shows the purple tunicate stalks.
These tunicates were seen attached to a sea weed forming a rope of delicately purple individuals about a foot in length.
Spotted washed into a rock pool - at low tide (Balnarring Beach, Westernport Bay)
Ascidians are filter feeders taking in and expelling water through the two siphons. They are mostly hermaphroditic with different reproductive strategies. They have distinct digestive, circulatory and nervous systems although they look like very simple life forms.
Spotted on Sep 4, 2022
Submitted on Sep 5, 2022
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