Marine Wildlife Encyclopedia
Salp Pegea confoederata
Salps are tunicates that resemble floating sea squirts. They swim by jet propulsion, taking in water through a siphon at one end of their bodies and expelling it at the other. Their transparent casing is loose and flabby and is encircled by four main muscles that form two distinct cross-bands. Individual salps are joined together in chains up to 12 in (30 cm) long, produced by the asexual reproduction (budding) of a young individual. The chains break up and disperse as they mature. Salps also reproduce sexually. Eggs are kept inside the body on the wall of the exhalent siphon, through which the developed larvae are expelled after being fertilized by sperm drawn in through the inhalent siphon.
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zoom image- Subphylum Urochordata
- Length Up to 6 in (15 cm)
- Depth Near surface
- Habitat Open water
- Distribution Warm waters worldwide
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