''Bathochordaeus'', the giant larvaceans, is a genus of

larvacean Larvaceans, copelates or appendicularians, class Appendicularia, are solitary, free-swimming tunicates found throughout the world's oceans. While larvaceans are filter feeders like most other tunicates, they keep their tadpole-like shape as adu ...

tunicate Tunicates are marine invertebrates belonging to the subphylum Tunicata ( ). This grouping is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ...

s in the family

Oikopleuridae Oikopleuridae is a family of larvacean tunicates. A comparatively species-rich family, it has been especially well-researched thanks to the ubiquity of ''Oikopleura dioica'' as a model species. It comprises two subfamilies, Bathochordaeinae and O ...

. They are free-swimming

filter-feeding Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a specia ...

marine animals that build mucus bubbles. They eat tiny particles of dead or drifting organic material that float through the water column, which contribute to the oceanic

carbon cycle The carbon cycle is a part of the biogeochemical cycle where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycl ...

and the accelerated transfer of carbon to the deep sea.

Description

They are much larger than other genera of larvaceans, ranging from 3 to 10 centimeters in total length, with houses reaching more than 1 meter in diameter.

Distribution

Giant larvaceans are widespread through the planet's oceans, being found in the North and South Pacific Ocean, the North and South Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. Three species have been described, ''

Bathochordaeus charon ''Bathochordaeus charon'' is a species of giant larvacean, a solitary, free-swimming tunicate that filter feeds in surface waters. The species was named after Charon, the mythical Greek ferryman who carried the souls of the dead across the rivers ...

'', '' B. mcnutti'' and '' B. stygius'', all of them found in

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

References

External links

''Bathochordaeus''
at WoRMS
Youtube video of living animal
* van der Land, J. (2001). Appendicularia, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 356 * Fenaux, R., Q. Bone, and D. Deibel. 1998. Appendicularian distribution and zoogeography, p. 251-264. In q. Bone d. The biology of pelagic tunicates. Oxford University Press * Sherlock, R.E., Walz, K.R., Schlining, K.L. ''et al.''
Morphology, ecology, and molecular biology of a new species of giant larvacean in the eastern North Pacific: ''Bathochordaeus mcnutti'' sp. nov.
in: Mar Biol 164, 20 (2017); doi:10.1007/s00227-016-3046-0 Oikopleuridae Tunicate genera {{tunicata-stub