![]() The bootlace worm is massively long – the longest recorded apparently came in at 55 metres, making it the longest animal in the Guinness Book of Records. The long, thin body of a bootlace worm stretched between two rocks. The rest of the body spanned across to the next boulder like a rope bridge. We turned a stone and on one side was the head and part of the tangled body of the brown worm. ![]() It didn’t take us long to find one of the strangest – and stinkiest – animals on the shore, the bootlace worm. So, what better for a day out with Cornish Rock Pools Junior than a visit to a sheltered, silty shore? It’s the perfect environment for all things slimy. There are several flatworms on the sea squirt, but it is only when one ventures onto the rock that I can see it properly.Īs anyone who spends time around children knows, they generally delight in things that adults find yucky. The worm is a fabulous midnight blue, flecked with yellow, yet it blends so perfectly with the colours of the star ascidian that I can’t make out its edges. There is another squidgy animal at work here.Ī flatworm is flowing across the surface of the sea squirt, moulding its body to the ridges and slopes as it goes. ![]() I sometimes spot the sea squirts opening and closing their siphons, but this is a larger shift. Originally from the North West Pacific region, it is known to sometimes cause problems by growing in huge numbers on mussel farming ropes.Ī movement draws my attention back to the star ascidian. Styela clava, sometimes known as the leathery sea squirt or the clubbed tunicate, is a single animal rather than a colony of zooids. Styela clava sea squirt with star ascidian in the background – spot the flatworm!ĭespite appearances, this is a distant cousin of the star ascidian.
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