Rough Sea Squirt - Styela clava
Not a good photo, but I wanted to share it because I thought it was interesting for the following reason...
Before I touched it, it looked like this:
Note that the valves are open in that photo. After I poked it, the valves closed tight.
"Styela clava" is a solitary, subtidal ascidian tunicate. As its common names suggest, "S. clava" is club-shaped with an elongated oval body and a long peduncle for attaching to a substrate. Although native to the northwestern waters of the Pacific Ocean, since the 1900s, "S. clava" has become an increasingly successful invasive species outside of its native range.
Similar species: Stolidobranchia
By Christine Young
Attribution Non-Commercial
Uploaded Sep 12, 2023. Captured Sep 6, 2023 10:47 in PXJF+9G Harpswell, ME, USA.
