Pointe de Trévignon, France, 8 meters, 2014, WBN
Glénan Archipelago, France, 7 meters, 2011, WBN
Glénan Archipelago, France, 8 meters, 2011, WBN
Concarneau Bay, France, 4 meters, 2011, WBN
Ria d’Etel, France, 11 meters, 2011, WBN
Aplidium punctum is a colonial ascidian forming capitate colonies reaching 6 cm in height. Up to forty zooids are embedded in a common test forming a flat-topped lobe arising from a stalk. The base of the colony is often encrusted with sand. The test is transluscent and the general colour of the colony is pale orange. Each zooid has a six-lobed oral siphon and a red spot at the upper-end of the endostyle. Colonies of orange flake-ascidians often live aggregated, forming bunches attached to rocks from low water level to 25 meters deep.
Aplidium punctum is found in the North-East Atlantic and the English Channel.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Biota (Monde)
Animalia (Règne)
Chordata (Embranchement)
Tunicata (Sous-embranchement)
Ascidiacea (Classe)
Aplousobranchia (Ordre)
Polyclinidae (Famille)
Aplidium (Genre)
Aplidium punctum (Espèce)
Zooid : individual, single animal.
Test : or tunic: thick layer secreted by the mantel containing cellulose and protecting the animal.
Oral siphon : opening by which water is drawn in the ascidian.
Endostyle : groove through which food particles are moved up to the oesophagus.
Text :Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2026.
Photos : © Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Image satellite: © Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community.
Données de distribution : Aplidium punctum (Giard, 1873) in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-07-19.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Biota (Monde)
Animalia (Règne)
Chordata (Embranchement)
Tunicata (Sous-embranchement)
Ascidiacea (Classe)
Aplousobranchia (Ordre)
Polyclinidae (Famille)
Aplidium (Genre)
Aplidium punctum (Espèce)
Zooid : individual, single animal.
Test : or tunic: thick layer secreted by the mantel containing cellulose and protecting the animal.
Oral siphon : opening by which water is drawn in the ascidian.
Endostyle : groove through which food particles are moved up to the oesophagus.
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2026.
Photos : © Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Bay-Nouailhat A., March 2005, Description de Aplidium punctum, [En ligne] https://www.mer-littoral.org/uk/32/aplidium-punctum.php, consultée le 19 juillet 2026.
Author
Chargée d’études en environnement marin
Plongeuse professionnelle - Naturaliste
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