Ian Shaw, Reef Life Survey, Australien
Info
A solitary ascidian with upright tubular shaped zooids, transparent yellow in colour, each with two siphons pointing upwards but slightly away from each other. Each siphon has a red ring around the opening, and a lower red ring where the siphon tube meets the zooid body. Usually seen in groups, closely packed together.
Zooid height around 1 cm.
The etymology of the sea squill - goes back to Greek and Latin roots:
Ecteinascidia: This genus name combines Greek words: “ekteino” (ἐκτείνω): meaning “to stretch” or “to spread out”, probably referring to the elongated or expanded features of the organism, and “askidion” a diminutive form of askos (ἀσκίδιον), meaning “sack” or “bag”, referring to the sac-like body of the tunicates.
“maxima” is the Latin word for ‘largest’ or ‘biggest’, indicating that this species is one of the largest or most prominent within its genus.
Thus, Ecteinascidia maxima can be interpreted as “the largest outstretched sac”, which emphasizes its morphology and size.
Zooid height around 1 cm.
The etymology of the sea squill - goes back to Greek and Latin roots:
Ecteinascidia: This genus name combines Greek words: “ekteino” (ἐκτείνω): meaning “to stretch” or “to spread out”, probably referring to the elongated or expanded features of the organism, and “askidion” a diminutive form of askos (ἀσκίδιον), meaning “sack” or “bag”, referring to the sac-like body of the tunicates.
“maxima” is the Latin word for ‘largest’ or ‘biggest’, indicating that this species is one of the largest or most prominent within its genus.
Thus, Ecteinascidia maxima can be interpreted as “the largest outstretched sac”, which emphasizes its morphology and size.
