Top: The phylogenetic relationship among tunicate groups, highlighting Thaliacea. Note that whether the shared ancestor of tunicates was a sessile or a free-swimming animal is under debate. Bottom: A young oozooid of Thalia democratica collected in the Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer. Phalloidin (red); Hoechst (green). Image credit: Mette Handberg-Thorsager & Alexandre Alié.

#Tunicates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates. Yasunori Sasakura explores a @plosbiology.org study that reveals the unique embryogenesis of Thaliacea (2 spp of #salps), tunicates that regained mobility from their sessile ancestor 🧪 Paper: plos.io/4bscc6j Primer: plos.io/4uBoK4f

Top: The phylogenetic relationship among tunicate groups, highlighting Thaliacea. Note that whether the shared ancestor of tunicates was a sessile or a free-swimming animal is under debate. Bottom: A young oozooid of Thalia democratica collected in the Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer. Phalloidin (red); Hoechst (green). Image credit: Mette Handberg-Thorsager & Alexandre Alié.

#Tunicates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates. Yasunori Sasakura explores a @plosbiology.org study that reveals the unique embryogenesis of Thaliacea (2 spp of #salps), tunicates that regained mobility from their sessile ancestor 🧪 Paper: plos.io/4bscc6j Primer: plos.io/4uBoK4f

Top: The phylogenetic relationship among tunicate groups, highlighting Thaliacea. Note that whether the shared ancestor of tunicates was a sessile or a free-swimming animal is under debate. Bottom: A young oozooid of Thalia democratica collected in the Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer. Phalloidin (red); Hoechst (green). Image credit: Mette Handberg-Thorsager & Alexandre Alié.

#Tunicates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates. Yasunori Sasakura explores a @plosbiology.org study that reveals the unique embryogenesis of Thaliacea (2 spp of #salps), tunicates that regained mobility from their sessile ancestor 🧪 Paper: plos.io/4bscc6j Primer: plos.io/4uBoK4f

Fig. 4 Corella willmeriana captured and ingested light crude oil droplets, viewed with a light (left column) and TRITC autofluorescence (right column). (A, B, C, D) Droplets captured by the branchial basket of an individual after the feeding period. (E, F) Gut content. (G, H) Fecal matter. Arrows point to a sample of oil droplets. Scale bar: 200 μm.

connect with IOB co author

@invertevo.bsky.social

mapageweb.umontreal.ca/cameroc/

of

Oil Droplet Capture by #Tunicates

C B Cameron et al

doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

#science #invertebrates

Fig. 3 Oil droplets in the fecal matter (A) and rejected mucus (B) of Ci. intestinalis following feeding on a waste oil in seawater emulsion. Scale bar: 200 μm.

IOB

"This study provides some general insights into oil droplet capture by #tunicates, the mechanics of droplet capture, the absence of selection based on the type of oil, and oil droplet size capture..."

doi.org/10.1093/iob/...
by
K Beaudry & C B Cameron

#science #invertebrates #microscopy

Fig. 1 Fecal matter of tunicates after feeding on a waste motor oil-in-water emulsion. (A, B) Molgula manhattensis, (C, D) Cn. finmarkiensis, (E, F) B. villosa, (G, H) H. igaboja, (I, J) Co. inflata, and (K, L) Styela clava. In each pair the left image (A, C, E, G, I, K) is fecal matter with oil droplets, and the right images (B, D, F, H, J, L) are controls from animals not exposed to oil. Arrows point to a sample of oil droplets. Scale bar: 200 μm.

IOB

Oil Droplet Capture by #Tunicates

K. Beaudry & @invertevo.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

"These results demonstrate that #tunicates can provide an entry for oils into marine food webs...

#microscopy #science #biology #videography

Clavelina moluccensis - blue sea squirt (2023)

These guys are chordates, which are like distant cousins to vertebrates. Weird, translucent, filter feeding, sessile, squishy-- almost just like humans in couch potato mode, except for the transparency.

#invertebrates #tunicates #art #sciart

Always happy to see Ciona represented and popularized #ciona #ascidian #tunicates

Sea anemones attaches to a sponge or possible tunicate all living on a mangrove root.

Thanksgiving under the mangroves
#macro
#underwater
#photography
#tunicates

#Tunicates like if you agree

A #squaretail #Tetragonurus #fish pokes out from the shelter of its drifting #pyrosome colony for just long enough to get a quick shot.

#squaretailfish #symbiosis #comensalism #tunicate #tunicates #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

The last time I saw this mystery fish clinging to a drifting #pyrosome was almost exactly a year ago. My best guess is perhaps it’s a young #marine #bream of some sort???
#blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #fishid #tunicates #deepsea #deepseacreatures #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

Star ascidian , Botryllus schlosseri

Star ascidian , Botryllus schlosseri

Sea squirt , Pyura tessellata

Sea squirt , Aplidium punctum

A few more different types of Sea squirts we found in the last weeks.
#UKWildlife, #UKNature, #Tidepools, #Rockpool, #MarineLife , #Wildlife, #Nature, #Tunicates

#UKWildlife, #UKNature, #MarineLife , #Tidepools, #Wildlife , #Nature, #Tunicates

🦑I think they are both #tunicates One strawberry, one black. (please don't eat the strawberry tunicates.) #Bohol #Philippines #Scuba. I've only got two photos left in this album, then probably going to start on somewhere in the Caribbean for a bit.

Less, but more: A new evolutionary scenario marked by massive gene loss and expansion Evolution is traditionally associated with a process of increasing complexity and gaining new genes. However, the explosion of the genomic era shows that gene loss and simplification is a much more fr...

Less, but more: A new #evolutionary scenario marked by massive #gene_loss and #expansion.

#genomics #amplification #FGF #Oikopleura #appendicularians #tunicates

phys.org/news/2025-02...

To better understand the impact of #GeneLoss on the #evolution of mechanisms #development, during the PhD project of @gasparsanchez.bsky.social we investigated the #Fgf system on #appendicularian #tunicates, the sister group of vertebrates, in the context of our own phylum, the #chordates.

Pacific Sea Pork (Aplidium californicum) I found at Doran Beach in Bodega Bay, California. Sea pork are filter feeding colonial #tunicates with individual zooids measuring around 6mm long. 🦑 #marinelife

Add #Tunicates, which also make tadpole, even though they don’t fuss about, keep their heads down and filter feed.

Diversity of pelagic tunicates (Appendicularia and Thaliacea) from Cuba: a review - Marine Biodiversity Gelatinous zooplankton (GZ), and pelagic tunicates specifically, plays key roles in marine ecosystems, contributing to diets of various predators and oceanic carbon cycling. Nevertheless, biological i...

RESEARCH: Diversity of #pelagic #tunicates (Appendicularia and Thaliacea) from Cuba: a review. Co-authored by @FLuskow and Evgeny Pakhomov @UBCzoops doi.org/10.1007/s125...

The #tunicates here around Mabul, Borneo would like to share their assessment of the current state of democracy in the United States.

The last sentence may explain last night...

#tunicates #underthesea

Now listening to @federico_brown from @usponline 🇧🇷 on the evolution of coloniality in #tunicates. #SMBD18 @SocMexBioDes