Overview
Phylum Tunicata: Ascidians (Tunicates, Salps)
Ascidians, are solitary or colonial organisms commonly known as sea squirts, and most are characterised by an outer coat of cellulose-like material (the tunic).
Tunicates, like chordates, have a dorsal hollow nerve chord and a rod of notochord cells
(sometimes only in the larvae), and were formerly considered to be a subphylum of the Chordata.
However recent genetic studies have indicated they are a separate Phylum.
Te Papa’s collection of ascidians comprises about 360 specimen lots, of which nine are name-bearing types.