Marine Species Identification Portal : Ascidia conchilega

Müller, 1776

Description

External appearance
Solitary. Body elliptic-oblong, up to 60 mm in length and attached along the left side. Test cartilaginous, thin, greenish; usually with small rough projections; often covered with shell fragments.

Characters
Oral siphon 6-8 lobed and placed terminal; atrial siphon 6-lobed and positioned 1/2 to 2/3 of body length away from oral siphon. About 40-120 simple, thin branchial tentacles placed in three distinct rows. Branchial sac with numerous rows of straight stigmata; no folds; with papillae at the intersections of longitudinal vessels with transverse vessels. Small irregular papillae on right face of dorsal lamina. Gut loop on the left of branchial sac; stomach round with numerous longitudinal folds. Elongated ovaries covering the left side of the intestinal loop; pear-shaped testes covering the right side of the intestine (A. conchilega morphology).

Habitat
Attached to hard substrata; from lower shore depths of more than 1000 metres.

Distribution
From Norway to the Mediterranean.

Ascidia conchilega