Star Sea Squirt Botryllus schlosseri
Individual star sea squirts are only about in (2 mm) long and cannot live on their own. Instead, they arrange themselves in star-shaped clusters, or colonies, embedded in a shared gelatinous casing, called a tunic or test. At the center of each star is a shared outgoing (exhalent) opening through which used water is voided. The colonies vary greatly in color and may be green, violet, brown, or yellow, with the individuals having a contrasting color to the test.
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- Subphylum Urochordata
- Width_cluster Up to 6 in (15 cm)
- Depth Shore and shallows
- Habitat Rock, stones, seaweeds
- Distribution Coastal Arctic and temperate waters of north Atlantic
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