(Tjøme - Vestfold / 9 meters / 9.26.2004)

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Tunicata

Class: Ascidiacea

 

Norwegian: sjøpunger

Believe it or not, these strange animals belong to the same phylum as you and me. We have a common feature with the larval stage of the sea squirts or - the spine.

The sea squirts have two openings or siphons. Water is sucked into one and expelled out through the other. They get nutrition from plankton, extracted from the water. You find them attached to hard substrates at all diveable depths and in a large variety of habitats.