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Violet tunicate
Ascidian
Violet tunicate
Botrylloides violaceus (Oka, 1927)
WoRMS AphialID
148715
Sample IDs
HMSC174-00134 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCAS007-23; HMSC174-00135 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCAS008-23; Quoddy 145 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCAS097-25; HMSC229_22 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCAS125-25.
Collected
Southern Shore NS, Eastern Shore NS, Tracadie Bay PEI, Passamaquoddy Bay NB, SCUBA-hand collection on rocks and seaweed, ROV collections and hand collection from dock pilings, 5-11 m depth.
Distinguishing Features
• Form: flat, thickly encrusting colonial tunicate. The zooids are arranged in curving rows or crowded, and are yellow, orange, reddish-brown to violet in colour.
• Siphons: raised round oral aperture.
• Spicules: absent.
• Atrial Languet: absent or small and short.
Habitat
Grows on rocks, seaweed, eelgrass, other native species, and manmade structures such as docks. Prefers sheltered, low-current and shallow areas, lower shore to 10 m depth.
Geographic Range
This species is native to the northwest Pacific where it is found from northern Japan to southern Korea and northern China. It was introduced to the northeast Pacific, the northwest Atlantic and the northeast Atlantic.
Fun Fact
When a piece of the colony breaks off, it can survive and travel in the water column for up to 40 days. The fragmented pieces can then travel to new locations and establish a new colony there, making it hard to remove once it is introduced to a region.
Barcode Distribution
Widespread BIN matching Europe, Japan and California.
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