''Aplidium albicans'' is a toxic sea squirt native to the Mediterranean Sea.

Range

Native to the Mediterranean Sea. Population density is sparse in its native range.

Toxins

''A. albicans'' contains

aplidine Plitidepsin (also known as dehydrodidemnin B, marketed by PharmaMar, S.A. under the trade name Aplidin) is a chemical compound extracted from the ascidian ''Aplidium albicans''. It is currently undergoing clinical trial testing. It is a member of ...

(aplidin, plitidepsin), found by Steiner et al 2015 and Borjan et al 2015 to be a cytotoxin (due to its apoptotic effect) and

antiangiogenic An angiogenesis inhibitor is a substance that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels ( angiogenesis). Some angiogenesis inhibitors are endogenous and a normal part of the body's control and others are obtained exogenously through pharmaceutical d ...

. The toxin is structurally and functionally almost identical to toxins produced by the genus ''

Tistrella ''Tistrella'' is a bacterial genus from the family of Rhodospirillaceae. ''Tistrella'' produces didemnin Didemnins are cyclic depsipeptide compounds isolated from a tunicate (ascidian, or sea-squirt) of the genus '' Trididemnum'' (family of ...

'' of marine bacteria.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

of ''A. albicans'' has not been economically feasible .

References

{{Tunicata-stub Enterogona Poisonous animals