Tunicates have a well-developed heart and circulatory system. The heart is a double U-shaped tube situated just below the gut. The blood vessels are simple connective tissue tubes, and their blood has several types of corpuscle.

2025年1月22日 · Some tunicates are fouling organisms that grow on ships’ hulls. Their main interest to humans is in providing clues to the possible ancestry of vertebrates. With rare exceptions, tunicates are hermaphrodites, but reproduction may be by sexual or asexual (budding) means.

2024年8月9日 · Tunicates are marine invertebrates of the subphylum Tunicata characterized by an outer exoskeleton made of tunicin (a type of cellulose). These animals possess dorsal nerve cords and notochords and are thus part of the phylum Chordata.

Although tunicates are invertebrates (animals without backbones) found in the subphylum Tunicata (sometimes called Urochordata), they are part of the Phylum Chordata, which also includes animals with backbones, like us. That makes us distant cousins.

Tunicates, commonly called sea squirts, are a group of marine animals that spend most of their lives attached to docks, rocks or the undersides of boats. To most people they look like small, colored blobs.

2016年2月22日 · Tunicates, also called urochordates, are an extremely diverse subphylum of the Chordata, a phylum that also contains the vertebrates and cephalochordates.

Learn about tunicates, marine animals that link simple invertebrates to complex vertebrates. Discover their unique features and ecological importance.

Tunicates (subphylum Urochordata or subphylum Tunicata) are marine, barrel-shaped invertebrates of the phylum Chordata. They are commonly called tunicates because they are covered by a tough covering, or tunic, and also are called sea squirts, because they squirt out water when touched (Towle 1989).

In short, tunicates are fascinating organisms with a fundamental role in the evolution of vertebrates and in the balance of marine ecosystems. Their genetic connection to humans and their potential in science and industry make them creatures of great interest to modern biology.

2013年11月26日 · Tunicates are among the most common marine invertebrates and are named for their cellulose body covering, called a tunic. While tunicates don’t have eyes (some have eyespots), ears (though there is an otolith to sense gravity or movement) or a nose, they do have a mouth, heart, stomach, intestines and gonads.