Sea Squits

Just bought two beautiful black sea squirts, here's a little info about them, Sea squirts get their nickname from their tendency to "squirt" out water when they are removed from their watery home. And while they may look like rubbery blobs, they are actually very advanced animals--close to humans on an evolutionary scale.
That's because they have a spine. Sea squirts belong to the phylum Chordata, which includes all animals with a spinal chord, a supporting notochord (backbone), and gill slits at one point in their lives--everything from fish to humans. Tunicates have all these features as larvae, when they resemble tadpoles. Usually within 24 hours of planktonic life, the tunicate larvae will settle down on a hard surface and attach itself with adhesive organs. The tunicate then undergoes a transformation, rearranging its organs (absorbing its notochord, nerve cord and tail) and becoming a full grown sea squirt. Sea squirts possess both sex organs, but are unable physiologically to self-fertilize.
Tunicates actually "wear" tunics. They secrete the leathery sac--called a tunic--that protects the animal. There are two openings in the sac, called "siphons." Cilia on the pharynx move about to create a current and draw water in through the incurrent siphon. The water is then filtered through the mucus-coated pharynx, which traps food particles. Oxygen is drawn from the water as it passes through the gill clefts, and moves out through the excurrent siphon.

 

Hey, thanks for the info. I did not know that much information about them. Do you know what level of difficulty they are to keep? Please update us with your experiences with them.

Anne

 

Anne,

They are very challenging. You need to have a LOT of phytoplankton and zooplankton at all times. The main problem with that is problem algaes that will become prevalent due to the abundance of nutrients necessary to keep them alive. IMO, they are best kept in a species tank. There are some pretty cool looking ones though.

Take a look. http://images.google.com/images?svn...ff&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-52,GGLD:en&q=sea squirt

BTW, they are being used in fertility research for humans. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1036855.stm

 

Interesting--didn't know that although from what I understand we are looking to the sea more and more for cures for this that and everything else.

Anne