Pyura haustor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pyura haustor | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Tunicata |
| Class: | Ascidiacea |
| Order: | Stolidobranchia |
| Family: | Pyuridae |
| Genus: | Pyura |
| Species: | P. haustor |
| Binomial name | |
| Pyura haustor | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Pyura haustor is a species of sessile ascidian, or sea squirt, that lives in coastal waters in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean, attached to rocks or artificial structures. Common names for this species include the wrinkled seapump, the wrinkled sea squirt and the warty tunicate.[2]
This sea squirt is nearly as tall as it is wide, growing to about 5 by 3.5 cm (2.0 by 1.4 in). It is not attached to the substrate by a stalk, as are some members of the genus, but is attached over a wide base and appears roughly globular, with two obvious siphons projecting upwards. these siphons can be projected a long way when feeding, and can be retracted if danger threatens. The tunic is tough, wrinkled and folded, and does not have spiny projections. The color is usually dark brown, tinged with red on the siphons, but much of the surface is often hidden by sand, shell fragments or debris adhering to the tunic, or the tunic may be overgrown with other organisms.[2]