Nephtheis fascicularis

Fungal sea squirt ( Nephtheis fascicularis)

The fungal sea squirt ( Nephtheis fascicularis, Syn: Oxycorynia fascicularis ) is a sessile, colonial (Animal poles forming ) tunicate ( Tunicata ) that occurs from the west coast of Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and Micronesia in the tropical Indo-Pacific.

Features

The colonies look like morels and are of blue, green or gray-green color. All individual animals ( zooids ) of a colony form a colony like blackberries looking head sitting on a thick stalk. All zooids are equal and on the same level of development. The colony head is fragile, very soft and translucent, the handle a little harder. The colony head can be eight inches long and three inches in diameter reach. An entire fungal Seescheidenstock, consisting of several common ground forming stems with the associated colony heads can reach 25 centimeters in height. The stems extending into a network of wires, all connected to each other by the zooids. Fungal ascidians are hermaphroditic and feed as filter feeders.

The mushroom is eaten by sea squirt Nacktkiemerschnecken the genus Tambja and Nembrothia lineolata.