divepix - Botrylloides spp. (maroon variety)

Botrylloides spp. (maroon variety)

Aspect:	Thin (1 to 3mm) maroon to violet encrusting rubbery cushion of variable size and shape homes white-ish strings of small zooids that form a colony. Up to a score of such patches (seldom exceeding 3cm in length or diameter) can be found clustered on small rocky areas. A very close macro shot below helps to understand the filiation of this formation with tunicates: the white zooids with their individual bucal siphons (in which the bucal cirri can be seen) are arranged within the violet tunic, but use a larger, plain, common outflow opening.
Population:	Used to be rare around Ilets Pigeon, but has spread rapidly during the past few years.
Notable feature:	Remark: To our knowledge, this maroon variety of botrylloides - a form of tunicate colonies - does not seem to have been described to date and so far appears to have only been seen in the vicinity of Ilets Pigeon.
Environment:	Rocky substrates at depths of a few metres down to 42 metres.
Behaviour:	-