Aplidium elegans

Aplidium elegans form firm, flattened globular masses, that look like pink cushions from 3 to 4 cm long.[3] The color is striking, with large white papillae around the inhalant siphons of the zooids and deep pink coloration of the colony.[3] The arrangement of the zooids in the colony gives a meandering pattern, with cloacal canals between zooids.[3] The zooids are embedded in a common test and grouped around sinuous, irregular cloacal canals.[2] The oral siphons are slightly prominent and bordered of eight small white lobes.[2] Colonial ascidians, like other benthic invertebrates show great morphological variability in terms of shape, size and color in response to both genetic characteristics and local environmental conditions.[4]

Aplidium elegans is found in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the English Channel.[4] The colonies are found on rocks in waters 5 meters to 20 meters deep.[4] Also can be found on moderately exposed rocky sites, usually with moderate tidal streams, attached to rocks.[3] The colony is around 50mm broad and 15mm thick.[3]

Aplidium elegans colony is made up of a couple different parts.[4] The zooid is the individual animal, and in a colony, there are multiple zooids.[4] The colony has a test or tunica which is a thick layer secreted by the mantle, containing cellulose and protecting the animal.[4] Every zooid has an oral siphon, which is an opening through which water is drawn into the ascidian to collect nutrients.[4] Each individual also has a cloaca through which water is expelled.[4]

• List of tunicates of Ireland