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Polyclinum Planum
''Polyclinum planum'' is a compound ascidian commonly known as the elephant ear tunicate. It is an ascidian tunicate in the Family (biology), family Polyclinidae. Ascidians are also known as sea squirts. Description ''Polyclinum planum'' colonies are variable in color ranging from olive greenish to brown to yellowish tan. Colonies of this species have a tough flexible Peduncle (anatomy), peduncle located along one margin of the zooid-bearing lobe by which they are attached to a hard substrate. The pharynx of each zooid (colony member) has 13-17 rows of stigmata (ciliated openings) that they use for filter-feeding. The zooid-bearing lobe is roughly spherical in colonies less than 1 or 2 cm in diameter, the lobe becomes laterally compressed into sort of a tongue or pancake shape as the colony increases in size, and the lobe can be 2.5 to more than 10 times wider than it is thick. Each zooid in the colony maintains its own oral siphon (incurrent opening) while the cloacal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ascidian
Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" made of a polysaccharide. Ascidians are found all over the world, usually in shallow water with salinities over 2.5%. While members of the Thaliacea and Larvacea (Appendicularia) swim freely like plankton, sea squirts are sessile animals after their larval phase: they then remain firmly attached to their substratum, such as rocks and shells. There are 2,300 species of ascidians and three main types: solitary ascidians, social ascidians that form clumped communities by attaching at their bases, and compound ascidians that consist of many small individuals (each individual is called a zooid) forming colonies up to several meters in diameter. Sea squirts feed by taking in water through a tube, the oral siphon. The water enters the mouth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
