Stalked tunicate

Styela montereyensis

Stalked tunicate

Styela montereyensis
Other Common Names
Monterey stalked tunicate, long-stalked sea squirt
Other Common Names
Monterey stalked tunicate, long-stalked sea squirt

At the Aquarium

Rocky Coast

Appearance

The yellow to dark red-brown body is elongated, cylindrical, and has longitudinal ridges and grooves. There are 2 siphons at the upper end and a thin stalk below that is about the same length as the body.

Habitat

Attached to large boulders, rocky reefs, or other hard structures from the lower intertidal zone to 100 feet subtidally

Diet

Suspension feeder; plankton

Life History

Stalked tunicates do not have separate sexes. Each individual broadcast spawns both eggs and sperm in the summer. After fertilization, it takes 2 days for the eggs to hatch into a tadpole larva. Larvae start life as free floating plankton for as long as 8 days and do not feed during this time, then undergo metamorphosis and settle to the bottom.
Reach a maximum length of ~12 inches

IUCN Status

Not Evaluated

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

The Oregon hairy triton (which produces the state seashell of Oregon) is a predatory sea snail that primarily eats tunicates.
Vancouver Island, British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico
You might find one in the intertidal zone during a low tide.
Tunicates are the invertebrate group closest to vertebrates. The larval stage has a nerve cord and a notochord, but these are lost during metamorphosis to the more basic adult sac form.
Water enters the tunicate through the down-curved siphon and exits through the siphon pointing straight up.

Citations & Other Resources