Concarneau Bay, France, 9 meters, 2011, WBN
Pointe de Trévignon, France, 8 meters, 2011, WBN
Pointe de Trévignon, France, 8 meters, 2011, WBN
Bay of Lannion, France, 10 meters, 2011, WBN
Camaret, France, 9 meters, 2011, WBN
Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial ascidian forming encrusting flattened colonies of 4 to 5 cm in diameter. The zooids are gathered in systems of 3 to 12 individuals around a common atrial siphon. These systems look like stars dispatched through the colony within a common test.The siphons do not protude but form numerous little holes opening and closing according to the colony activity. The star tunicate has various colours: yellow, blue, brown-yellowish, green, mauve, reddish. The colour of the zooid is distinct from the colour of the common test. Colonies encrusted rocks, seaweeds and even other ascidians.
Botryllus schlosseri is found from low level water to 10 meters deep in the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Dernière mise à jour 16-04-2024
Zooid : individual, single animal.
Test : or tunic: thick layer secreted by the mantel containing cellulose and protecting the animal.
Atrial siphon : opening through which water is expelled.
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2024.
Photos : ©
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography
Image satellite: © Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community.
Données de distribution : Botryllus schlosseri in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-04-16.
Zooid : individual, single animal.
Test : or tunic: thick layer secreted by the mantel containing cellulose and protecting the animal.
Atrial siphon : opening through which water is expelled.
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2024.
Photos : ©
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography
Bay-Nouailhat A., January 2005, Description of Botryllus schlosseri, [On line] https://european-marine-life.org/32/botryllus-schlosseri.php, consulted on 2024 April 16.
Author
Project manager in marine environment
Professional diver - Naturalist
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