Tunicate facts: no backbone here | Animal Fact Files

Although tunicates might look like they would be more closely related to a sponge, they're actually more closely related to animals with backbones! This is because in their larval stage, tunicates actually have the beginnings of a backbone, called a notochord, though this is lost in most species as they metamorphose into adults. Still, that means something that looks a lot like a sponge is actually more closely related to humans than sponges! The largest group of tunicates are more commonly known as sea squirts because they can squirt sea water from their bodies when removed from water. Other tunicates have adapted this ability for means of jet propulsion and actually move around throughout the ocean!

Scientific Name: Subphylum - Tunicata (or Urochordata)
Range: marine sea throughout the world (polar to tropics)
Size: under and inch (2.54cm) to more than six feet (1.8m)
Diet: plankton, algae
Lifespan: about a year as adults

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Image and Video Credits:
Museums Victoria -    • Ascidian (tunicate), Herdmania grandis  ;    • Ascidian (tunicate), Botrylloides anceps  
ProfessorRamey -    • Pelagic Tunicate Thetys vagina.MP4  


stevenson_john - https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevens...
Ed Bierman - https://www.flickr.com/photos/edbierm...
prilifish - https://www.flickr.com/photos/silkeba...
Bernard DUPONT - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bernied... https://www.flickr.com/photos/bernied...
TheHALabs -    • salps  


RedEnsign - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...


OIST - https://vimeo.com/286292867
Melies+CC - https://vimeo.com/278549523
Diver Jackie - https://vimeo.com/22505767
seawildearth - https://vimeo.com/56833082
Gregory S. Sanders - https://vimeo.com/258575946

Nudibranch Marine Discovery Productions (Peter van Rodijnen); Stichting Natuurbeelden - https://www.openbeelden.nl/media/808151; https://www.openbeelden.nl/media/806999; https://www.openbeelden.nl/media/809473
Learning by action (producent);Klaudie Bartelink (camera);Stichting Natuurbeelden - https://openbeelden.nl/media/983161


Research Credits:
https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRp...
http://www.mesa.edu.au/tunicates
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
https://marinelab.fsu.edu/archive/vir...
https://www.britannica.com/animal/tun...
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