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About 3,000 species of tunicate exist in the world's oceans, living mostly in shallow water. The most numerous group is the ascidians; fewer than 100 species of these are found at depths greater than 200 m (660 ft). [12] Some are solitary animals leading a sessile existence attached to the seabed, but others are colonial and a few are pelagic.
The subphyla Tunicata and Vertebrata are in the unranked Olfactores clade, while the subphylum Cephalochordata is not. Animals in Olfactores are characterized as having a more advanced olfactory system than animals not in it. The only extinct classes shown are Placodermi and Acanthodii. Note that there are many other extinct chordate groups ...
Bathochordaeus, the giant larvaceans, is a genus of larvacean tunicates in the family Oikopleuridae.They are free-swimming filter-feeding marine animals that build mucus bubbles.
Already in the late 19th to early 20th century, it was hypothesized by Seeliger and later by Lohmann that Appendicularia diverged first from a free-swimming ancestral tunicate, with sessile forms evolving later in the sister lineage (often termed Acopa). [32] The following cladogram is based on the 2018 phylogenomic study of Delsuc and colleagues.
Once the predatory tunicate catches a meal, it keeps its trap shut until the animal inside is digested. They are known to live in the Monterey Canyon at depths of 200–1,000 metres (660–3,280 ft). They mostly feed on zooplankton and tiny animals, and their bodies are roughly 5 inches (13 cm) across. [3]
A salp (pl.: salps, also known colloquially as “sea grape”) or salpa (pl.: salpae or salpas [2]) is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate in the family Salpidae. It moves by contracting, thereby pumping water through its gelatinous body; it is one of the most efficient examples of jet propulsion in the animal kingdom. [3]
A similar edible tunicate in the Mediterranean is Microcosmus sabatieri, also called a sea violet or sea fig. [11] There are concerns about the safety of eating P. chilensis, given its high concentration of vanadium, with up to 1.9 mg/kg found in dry blood plasma. [12] Vanadium is a heavy metal, considered toxic at any more than incidental ...
Clavelina picta, common name the painted tunicate, is a species of tunicate (sea squirt), in the genus Clavelina (the "little bottles"). These animals, like all ascidians , are sessile filter feeders .