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The sea squirt is an immobile filter feeder that live on the ocean floor. Despite their plant-like appearance, sea squirts are actually more closely related to vertebrates than they are to invertebrates such as sponges and coral.

There are more than 3,000 known sea squirt species found on the seabed around the world, with the majority of sea squirt species being found in the warmer, nutrient-rich tropical waters. Sea squirts can vary from just 3cm to 30cm in length depending on the species of sea squirt and its habitat.

Sea squirts can be found in variety of colours and shapes due to the fact that their bodies are made of one solid structure (rather than having a skeleton), which is protected by a membrane just a few cells thick. Sea squirts are normally cylindrical in shape, but can also be round or even bell-shaped.

Sea squirts are filter feeders which means that they feed by filtering the nutritious particles out of the water. Sea squirts filter the sea water through slits in their membranes, taking food and water in and letting waste and excess water out.

Sea squirts primarily feed on the plankton and nutrients in the water along with the algae that grows on them. Many larger sea squirt species have stick tentacle-like appendages which catch food particles as they float past. Some really large species of sea squirts that are found in the deep ocean, are even known to trap and ingest small animal including fish and jellyfish.

Due to the fact that sea squirts attach themselves to objects from a very young age, they are often sitting targets for hungry passers. Snails, crustaceans and eels are the most common predators of the sea squirt along with some species of larger fish.

Sea squirts have both male and female reproductive organs making self-fertilisation possible but unlikely. The sea squirts release their eggs and sperm into the water which become fertilised and part of the plankton. The sea squirt larvae hatches out of the eggs and makes it way down to the ocean floor in search for somewhere to anchor itself.

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Sea Squirt Facts

Kingdom: A level of classifying all living things on earth, as similar species are broken into 5 groups including plants, animals and fungi....	Animalia
Phylum: A level of classifying animals within the animal kingdom. Phylum are further divided into subgroups called classes....	Chordata
Class: A level of classifying animals in a phylum. Classes are then sub-divided into further groups known as orders....	Urochordata

Common Name:	Sea Squirt
Scientific Name:	Urochordata
Found:	Worldwide
Size:	3-30cm (1.2-11.8in)
Weight:	100-200g (3.5-7oz)
Number of Species:	3,000
Average Lifespan:	7-30 years
Conservation Status: The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation s...	Threatened

Colour:	Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Pink, White
Skin Type:	Permeable
Favourite Food:	Plankton
Habitat: The term habitat is used to describe a specific area where a particular animal lives, within an environment. Many animals have adapted to requiring specific conditions which can only be found in their natural habitat su...	Coastal Waters
Average Litter Size:	1,000
Main Prey: When an animal is referred to prey, it means that the animal is either hunted or caught for food. Animals that are referred to as prey are generally hunted by bigger animals, although there are a number of exceptions....	Plankton, Algae, Nutrients In Water
Predators: When an animal is referred to as a predator, it means that the animal either hunts or catches other animals. Predatory animals are generally dominant within their environment and will generally hunt animals smaller than...	Eels, Snails, Starfish
Special Features:	Long tube-like appearance

Related Animals

	Coral Thought to be around 70,000 different species!
	Sea Slug Also commonly known as a Sea Cucumber!
	Sea Urchin Can live for up to 200 years!
	Sponge There are more than 5,000 known species!
	Starfish Has 2 stomachs to aid digestion!