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Specy

Sea Squirt

Tunicates and Lancelets

The sea squirt, or vase tunicate, is a soft, translucent, tube-shaped animal that lives fixed to rocks and hard surfaces worldwide, growing up to about 20 centimeters and drawing its Latin name from its resemblance to a column of intestine. As an adult it filters plankton from seawater drawn in through one siphon and expelled through another, but its free-swimming, tadpole-like larva shares key traits with vertebrates, a discovery that helped reclassify tunicates as chordates rather than mollusks. It has become an invasive species in many harbors, spreading on boat hulls, pilings, and aquaculture gear, and its small, well-studied genome makes it a widely used model for research into chordate development.

Facts
Classification
Diet
Filter Feeder 1
System (Realm)
Marine 2
Relationship to People
Invasive or Introduced Species 2
Living or Extinct
Yes 3
Comparison
CITES Appendix
Not Listed 4
Scientific Name
Ascidiacea 5
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Chordata, Taxa
Source Wikidata: Ascidiacea

In Biome

Marine, Biomes
Source Wikipedia: Ascidiacea
Sources
1. Wikidata: Ascidiacea
  • Wikidata Q190090, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikipedia 'Ascidiacea': sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders
  • Child Taxon Of: Chordata, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Ascidiacea
  • Introduction
    Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts, is a paraphyletic class (biology) in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine (ocean) invertebrate filter feeders.
  • system (entity description states it plainly, relationship to people)
    It has become an invasive species in many harbors, spreading on boat hulls, pilings, and aquaculture gear, and its small, well-studied genome makes it a widely used model for research into chordate development.
  • In Biome: Marine, Lead section
    Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts, is a paraphyletic class (biology) in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine (ocean) invertebrate filter feeders.
  • In Group: Tunicates (Sea Squirts and Pyrosomes), Lead
    Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts, is a paraphyletic class (biology) in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine (ocean) invertebrate filter feeders.
View the Source
3. Ascidiacea (Wikipedia)
There are 2,300 species of ascidiansView the Source
4. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Animalia
UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 23
Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 23
"cites_listing":"I/II/III/NC","eu_listing":"A/B/C/D/NC","higher_taxa":{"kingdom":"Animalia","phylum":null,"class":null,"order":null,"family":null},"synonyms":[],"common_names":[{"name":"Animals","language":"EN"},{"name":"Fauna","language":"EN"},{"name":"Animaux","language":"FR"}],"cites_listings":[]
View the Source
5. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Ascidiacea
GBIF Backbone TaxonomyTaxon record
Quote, Taxon record
"canonicalName": "Ascidiacea"
View the Source
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