APHOTOMARINE

An educational resource dedicated mainly to the photography
and diversity of marine life that can be found in coastal waters
and intertidal areas of Great Britain and Ireland by David Fenwick.

A-P-H-O-T-O Wildlife Stock Image Library
Aplidium cf. glabrum - A sea squirt (Tunicate images)
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Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- under rock / lowershore 1

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- under rock / lowershore 2

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- individual animal with rule 1

Specimen above was found under a rock in a lowershore pool at Chimney Rocks, Penzance, Cornwall. 10.04.12. SW4754329812.

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- on rock / lowershore 1

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- on rock / lowershore 2

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- larvae close-up 1

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- larvae close-up 2

Sea squirt
Aplidium cf. glabrum
- larvae close-up 3

Species / specimen above was found forming sheets on rocks and shells on the lowershore at Helford, Cornwall, 29.10.15.

This species is superficially similar to a species seen in marinas etc. on the south coast of the UK, including the south-west, it keys out as Aplidium glabrum, and has been called that by the American taxonomist Gretchen Lambert. However, A. glabrum is a boreal species that should not really be this far south (and is similarly 'northern' on the other side of the Atlantic). I suspect that ours in artificial habs might be a non-native that shares the same rather simplistic identification points with 'true' A. glabrum. Further comparitive work is needed.
Dr. John Bishop (MBA)

The bivalve mollusc seen nestling in this sea squirt is Modiolarca subpicta syn. M. tumida, the Marbled crenella.

Aplidium cf glabrum Sea Squirt Tunicate Images
The main objective of this website is in furthering environmental awareness and education through the medium of photography. To increase awareness and access to the wildlife of the region and help
people find and identify it. Sometimes the difference between species is obvious but many species can only be determined by observing microscopic characteristics that are specific to any one species.