Golden Sea Squirt

Polycarpa aurata is a species of tunicate in the family Styelidae.

Description

Polycarpa aurata grows to a height of 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in). It has an urn-shaped, hollow body with two siphons, one at the top and the other on the side. The body colour of this tunicate is white with purple and orange patches and purple lines. The inside is yellow or orange and this is visible round the rim of the siphons.

Distribution

This species is found in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Its range includes the Philippines, Indonesia and northern Australia. Its depth range is 5 to 50 m (16 to 164 ft).

Biology

Tunicates feed by drawing water in through the branchial siphon at the top, filtering out phytoplankton, bacteria and other food particles, before expelling the water through the atrial siphon at the side. Sometimes hydroids and algae grow on the outside of the tunicate and nudibranchs such as Nembrotha lineolata sometimes feed on it.