Mum and were both fascinated by the purple form of Botryllus Schlosseri. It didn’t even click that they were the same species, because the way the zooids (I think) are structured are different. With the orange one, it’s like the flower petals are all connected but there is no center. With the purple ones, the ‘petals’ are a different shames and are connected to a center.
My analogy is crude, but it shows the difficulties when it comes to ascidians. Years ago, I decided that I wouldn’t try to identify them due to their complexity and the potential of becoming overwhelmed. It is ironic that they are now an area I’m focusing on.
It turns out that I had previously seen both the orange and purple form of this species shortly after the sand excavations in Spring, 2018. I’ll be going through older photos to see if it was present prior to this.
