SUBPHYLUM​ TUNICATA

• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

• Tunicates (Subphylum Tunicata)

• Sea Squirts (Class Ascidiacea)

​

Class Ascidiacea comprises the sea squirts or ascidians, a diverse group of exclusively marine invertebrates. With more than 3,000 described Found in shallow intertidal zones and coral reefs to the deep sea. Adults are typically sessile, attaching permanently to rocks, shells, docks, pilings, seaweeds, or other submerged surfaces. Their soft bodies are enclosed in a tough, protective outer covering called a tunic, composed largely of tunicin, a cellulose-like substance unique among animals. Ascidians feed by pumping seawater through an incurrent siphon, filtering out plankton and organic particles with a highly specialized pharyngeal basket, and expelling the filtered water through an excurrent siphon.