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tunicate
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Tunicate chain of fluorescent tunicates sea squirt; colonial tunicate
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Tunicate
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Tunicate
Tunicate Blue spot sea squirt (Clavelina moluccensis), a colonial tunicate.

tunicate

chordate subphylum
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Also known as: Tunicata, Urochordata, urochordate
Written by
Michael T. Ghiselin
Senior Research Fellow, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. Author of The Triumph of the Darwinian Method.
Michael T. Ghiselin
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
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Last Updated: • Article History
Also called:
urochordate
Related Topics:
sea squirt
larvacean
salp
Thaliacea
Pyrosomida
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tunicate, any member of the subphylum Tunicata (Urochordata) of the phylum Chordata. Small marine animals, they are found in great numbers throughout the seas of the world. Adult members are commonly embedded in a tough secreted tunic containing cellulose (a glucose polysaccharide not normally found in animals). The less modified forms are benthic (bottom-dwelling and sessile), while the more advanced forms are pelagic (floating and swimming in open water). A characteristic tadpole larva develops in the life cycle, and in one group (the appendicularians, or larvaceans) the adult closely resembles this larva, which has many features in common with other ...(100 of 2314 words)

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