Wildlife of The Solway Firth [90] The Sea Vase, by Mark Vollers, Lake District Coast Aquarium
Wildlife of The Solway Firth [90]
The Sea Vase (Ciona intestinalis)
by Mark Vollers, Lake District Coast Aquarium
These beautiful animals are one of a group known as sea squirts, so named because if moved out of their element they will often spurt out a stream of water!
They are widespread around the British coast, particularly favouring more sheltered areas like harbours that also offer hard surfaces to attach themselves.
Simple as they look, they are classified along within the Chordata phylum which includes us mammals!
They are also classed as Tunicates of which there are many species worldwide, some of which are regarded as seafood delicacies.
The Sea Vase can grow up to 15cm long with a translucent body clearly divided into two tube like sections called siphons, a perfect design for drawing in water (up to 3 litres an hour) down one, extracting planktonic food particles and then ejecting water out of the other. Water is pumped around by countless tiny beating hairs called cilia which line the siphons internally.
This species is normally solitary but where conditions are good they are often found in large groups or even attached to each other.
“These sea squirts have established themselves in many of our Aquarium displays by travelling around in our seawater circulation piping!”
They are hermaphrodites so can produce either eggs or sperm for external fertilisation, resulting in minute free swimming larvae which are then able to colonise new areas. As a result of this process these sea squirts have established themselves in many of our Aquarium displays by travelling around in our seawater circulation piping!
Their lifespan is thought to be 2-3 years.
Visit the Lake District Coast Aquarium facebook page to learn more about amazing wildlife on the Solway Coast.
www.facebook.com/maryport.aquarium
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