What are Tunicates?
Tunicates are a common subphylum of marine sac-like filter feeders found commonly in all the oceans of the world. Though usually found attached to the sea floor, the most familiar tunicates are free floating, including pyrosomes (bioluminescent tunicates), salps (which live in long linear colonies), and doliolids (tunicates with large siphons). Along with countless other organisms, tunicates make up the plankton. They are also called “sea squirts” or “sea pork” and come in a variety of colors, especially among the benthic (bottom-dwelling) species. Though the simple barrel and sac-like bodies of tunicates make them reminiscent of simple animals like sponges or jellyfish, tunicates are actually more closely related to the vertebrates, including human beings. This is evidenced by their larvae, bilateral tadpole-like animals with a simple nerve cord. Based on this, tunicates are classified as chordates, the phylum that contains all vertebrates, in subphylum Urochordata.
