Sea squirts
Did anyone ever call you a “little squirt”? They were calling you after
a little creature that lives in the sea—the sea squirt.
A sea squirt may look like two tubes joined together at the sides. It
may look like a lumpy vase with two openings. Or, it may look like a
ball with two little nozzles sticking up out of it.
These odd-looking animals spend most of their lives sitting in sand, or
attached to a rock or other solid object. All they do, day in and day
out, is suck in water through one opening—and squirt it out through
another! That’s how they get their food. They digest tiny plants,
animals, and bits of food that are in the water they suck in.
Sea squirts begin life as tiny creatures that look much like
tadpoles—baby frogs. They hatch out of eggs that grown-up sea squirts
put into the water. The babies swim about for a time. But in a few days
they lose their tadpole shape and sink to the bottom. They attach
themselves head first to a rock, sea shell, or other hard object, and
never move again. They grow into adults.
Some kinds of sea squirts have been named after fruits and other objects
that they somewhat resemble. The sea peach is a sea squirt that looks
somewhat like a peach. The sea grape resembles a grape. And the sea egg
looks like a green egg.
Many sea squirts live by themselves. Other sea squirts live in small
groups. Still other sea squirts live in large colonies, all joined
together.
