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Botryllus schlosseri is an encrusting, colonial ascidian commonly found on subtidal hard substrata (Carver et al. 2006). It is a filter-feeder and a sequential, cyclical hermaphrodite. Colonies are compound, comprised of many zooids, grouped into stellate systems around a common atrial siphon, embedded in a tunic matrix (Rinkevich et al. 1998).
It has a cosmopolitan distribution thought to be the result of a wide temperature and salinity tolerance range (Epelbaum et al. 2009a). Colonies of B. schlosseri were found on Heron Island under coral fragments in shallow intertidal environment on the reef crest.
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Figure 1: A sketch of a botryllus schlosseri colony found on Heron Island |