Aplidium californicum | |
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Aplidium californicum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Tunicata |
Class: | Ascidiacea |
Order: | Aplousobranchia |
Family: | Polyclinidae |
Genus: | Aplidium |
Species: | A. californicum
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Binomial name | |
Aplidium californicum (Ritter & Forsyth, 1917)
[1]
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Synonyms | |
Amaroucium californicum Ritter & Forsyth, 1917 |
Aplidium californicum is a species of colonial sea squirt, a tunicate in the family Polyclinidae. It is commonly known as sea pork.
Aplidium californicum is a compound tunicate forming sheets, mounds or slabs on rocks and other hard substrates. The tunic is jelly-like in consistency, 1 to 3 cm thick and a shiny yellow, orange, reddish-brown or a translucent white colour. The individual zooids are brown or buff, 6 mm long and arranged in oval or elongate systems. Each one is subdivided into a thorax, an abdomen and a postabdomen. There are usually 10 to 12 rows of perforations. [2] [3]
Aplidium californicum is common on the west coast of North America from British Columbia south to Baja California, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands. [2] It is found in the intertidal zone and at depths down to 85 metres. [3]
Aplidium californicum is a filter feeder. Water is sucked into the interior of the organism through a siphon and then expelled through another one. Phytoplankton and other small organisms get trapped in mucus threads secreted by the endostyle. The tunicate seems to form a symbiotic relationship with the bryozoan Bugula neritina. [4]
Certain antineoplastic agents, bryostatins 4 and 5, have been extracted from Aplidium californicum and are being evaluated. [4]