''Polycarpa aurata'', also known as the ox heart ascidian, the gold-mouth sea squirt or the ink-spot sea squirt, is a species of

tunicate A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Styelidae Styelidae is a family of ascidian tunicates.Lambert, G.; Gittenberger, A.; Sanamyan, K. (2015)Styelidae Sluiter, 1895.In: Shenkar, N.; Gittenberger, A.; Lambert, G.; Rius, M.; Moreira Da Rocha, R.; Swalla, B.J.; Turon, X. (2015) Ascidiacea World ...

Description

''Polycarpa aurata'' grows to a height of . It has an urn-shaped, hollow body with two siphons, one at the top and the other on the side. The body colour of this tunicate is white with purple and orange patches and purple lines. The inside is yellow or orange and this is visible around the rim of the siphons.

Distribution

This species is found in the tropical eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

and the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. Its range includes the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and northern Australia. Its depth range is .

Biology

Tunicates feed by drawing water in through the branchial siphon at the top, filtering out

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. P ...

, bacteria and other food particles, before expelling the water through the atrial siphon at the side. Sometimes

hydroids Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish. Some hydroids such as the freshwater ''Hydra'' are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate. When these produce buds, ...

and

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. The name is an informal term for a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from ...

grow on the outside of the tunicate and

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to mat ...

s such as '' Nembrotha lineolata'' sometimes feed on it.

References

External links

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* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1534556 Stolidobranchia Fauna of the Indian Ocean Fauna of the Pacific Ocean Animals described in 1834 Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard Marine fauna of Northern Australia Fauna of the Philippines Fauna of Indonesia Fauna of Papua New Guinea Fauna of Timor