Sea squirts (ascidians or tunicates) are sedentary animals that live attached to rocks. Most commonly found washed up is the orange-red Sea Tulip with its stalk and two openings. Often found also are the colonial sea squirts – squashy objects with many small openings.
Click on an image for a bigger picture (opens in new window).
| Common name | Scientific name | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ascidian or Sea Squirt | (Chordata: Ascidiacea) | Also called tunicates because of their tough outer covering or “tunic”, the ascidians are sedentary, filter-feeding animals. |
 | Sea Tulip | Pyura australis (Chordata: Ascidiacea) | This is a solitary, stalked species of sea-squirt. Water is pumped into the animal through an inhalant siphon and after being filtered for tiny food particles is ejected through an exhalent siphon. |
 | A Sea Squirt | (Chordata: Ascidiacea) | This is another solitary, stalked species of ascidian related to the Sea Tulip. Ascidians have a free-swimming larval stage like a small tadpole that only lives for a few hours before settling on a suitable surface and transforming into an adult sea squirt. Features of the larval stage indicate that ascidians are related to the fishes and other backboned animals. |
 | Colonial Ascidian or Sea Squirt | (Chordata: Ascidiacea) | This is a colonial species, in which individuals divide to form a colony. |