|
Home | Detectives | Suspects | Background Check | Kids' Headquarters | Top Desk Administrator | Case Files |
Styela clava
|
THE CRIMES: Known as a "fouling organism", the suspect attaches firmly to boat hulls, ropes, lines, pilings, and docks, weighing them down and causing a lot of expensive cleaning work for boat owners and marina operators. Boats with fouled hulls require more fuel to move through the water, increasing the cost of boating trips. Overgrows native shellfish like mussels and oysters, and even other invaders. Feeds on zooplankton of shellfish and crabs. DESCRIPTION: The suspect has a shriveled, wrinkly, yellowish-brown body with leathery bumps, rubbery to the touch. It attaches to hard surfaces using a holdfast, and can be 2-3 inches long. One siphon (tube) draws water into its body so plankton and bacteria can be strained through a mucous filter; the water exits through a second siphon. When prodded or squeezed, it protests by "squirting" water from its body, thus like many tunicates, it is sometimes called a "sea squirt". The Interrogation
Where are you from?
I arrived in the Northeastern U.S. in the 1970s from Japan by way of Europe or California
and the Panama Canal. I have cousins that look like me that also live nearby, although they are better at playing
hide and seek than I am, and are harder to find. Now I live as far north as parts of eastern Canada, as well as
on the West Coast.
How did you get here?
Daaahling, there are many ways to travel in style 'round the world! I may have arrived
attached to the bottom of a boat, in the ballast water of ships, or attached to imported shellfish. So many ways,
so much time!
I hear you claim to be related to humans? How can this be?
While you may think I am just another invertebrate, I am actually a tunicate, a small rubbery animal covered by a "tunic" or sheath. I live alone but other types of tunicates live in large groups or colonies. During my very short larval stage, simple structures similar to the spinal cord and spine of vertebrates are present, making me more closely related to you than you are to those silly crabs and starfish. What do you think of that?
Reward:
The honor of protecting our water resources— A healthier environment
and more opportunities to enjoy our natural areas.
|