Tunicates

Polycarpa cryptocarpa

• Group: Other
• Typical depth: 2–60 m

This sea squirt anchors to the bottom in lagoons and reefs and spends its life as a filter feeder, drawing seawater through its leathery body and straining out tiny food. Though it looks like a simple sac, as a tunicate it is a closer relative of fish than of the shells around it.

Taxonomy: Animalia › Chordata › Ascidiacea › Stolidobranchia › Styelidae › Polycarpa

Species data via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), AphiaID 253509.