''Pyura chilensis'', called in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and or in

Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...

, is a

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 ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Pyuridae Pyuridae is a family of tunicates.Gittenberger, A.; Sanamyan, K. (2015)Pyuridae.In: Shenkar, N.; Gittenberger, A.; Lambert, G.; Rius, M.; Moreira Da Rocha, R.; Swalla, B.J.; Turon, X. (2015) Ascidiacea World Database. Accessed through: World Regi ...

. It was described in 1782 by

Juan Ignacio Molina Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean-Spanish Jesuit priest, natural history, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Moli ...

Taxonomy

The earliest mention of the ''P. chilensis'' was in 1782 by

in his book . Molina, a Chilean abbot who was shunned from Chile along with the rest of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries, wrote this book to describe the life lived by the Chileans in the Chiloe Archipelago. He briefly describes the natives' fondness of fishing and mentions the as another form of sustenance for the people.

Description

''Pyura chilensis'' is a

that somewhat resembles a mass of organs inside a rock. It is often found in dense aggregations in the

intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...

and subtidal coast of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is a

filter feeder 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 s ...

that eats by sucking in seawater and filtering out

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

s. ''Pyura chilensis'' has some basic characteristics common to chordates, such as the

notochord The notochord is an elastic, rod-like structure found in chordates. In vertebrates the notochord is an embryonic structure that disintegrates, as the vertebrae develop, to become the nucleus pulposus in the intervertebral discs of the verteb ...

and a perforated

pharynx The pharynx (: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the human mouth, mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs respectively). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates ...

. It is born male, becomes hermaphroditic at puberty, and reproduces by tossing clouds of sperm and eggs into the surrounding water. If it is alone, it will procreate by self-fertilization. Its blood is clear and can contain high concentrations of

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an ...

, which may be ten million times that found in surrounding seawater, although the source and function of this element's concentrations are unknown.

Fishery

On the Chilean coast, banks of ''P. chilensis'' are heavily fished. The animal is also one of the main food sources for other local aquatic species such as the Chilean abalone (''Concholepas concholepas''), whose proliferation has threatened ''P. chilensis'' and severely restricted its growth for more than two decades. Many locals don wet suits and goggles to gather the delicacy, mostly in rocky areas close to shore, but occasionally farther out to sea. DSC07652c

Fishermen typically cut ''P. chilensis'' into slices with a handsaw, then use their fingers to pull out the siphons (which they refer to as ''tetas'', or "tits") from the carapace, which is discarded. The flesh is usually sold in strips, but may be canned. It is exported to numerous countries, including, as of 2007, Sweden (32.5% of exports) and Japan (24.2%).

Cuisine

The meat, which has a strong flavor, can be eaten raw or cooked. Its taste has been described as like that of

iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

or "something like a

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

though less delicate in flavor" and a "slightly bitter,

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

y taste". It is usually cut into small pieces, and flavored with chopped

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

cilantro Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the leaves as ha ...

, and

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

. Minced and boiled, it serves as an element of many dishes, particularly , or "

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

with minced piure". It can also be fried and eaten on

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

. A similar edible tunicate in the Mediterranean is '' Microcosmus sabatieri'', also called a sea violet or sea fig. There are concerns about the safety of eating ''P. chilensis'', given its high concentration of

, with up to 1.9 mg/kg found in dry blood plasma. Vanadium is a heavy metal, considered toxic at any more than incidental levels. The average diet provides trace amounts of vanadium; typically 6–18 micrograms (μg). According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, vanadium can cause

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

damage in high doses of 1.8 mg or more daily. No in-depth studies could be found at time of writing to determine the amount of vanadium contained within the blood or tissue of ''P. chilensis'', nor in typical dishes containing its flesh.

Effects on human reproduction

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island (, , ), also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the Los L ...

of Chile, women who consumed increased amounts of during pregnancy were purported to have had greater incidency of

multiple births A multiple birth is the culmination of a multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such births ...

. However, the veracity of such claims, in light of mechanisms of

human reproduction Human sexual reproduction, to produce offspring, begins with fertilization. Successful reproduction typically involves sexual intercourse between a healthy, sexually mature and fertile male and female. During sexual intercourse, sperm cells are ...

, remain dubious. It is said to possess

aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases libido, sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. These substances range from a variety of plants, spices, and foods to synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs, such as ...

properties and to have a significant

sildenafil Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain sym ...

-like effect on men for a period of time after consumption.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2741354 Pyuridae Animals described in 1782 Animal-based seafood Chilean cuisine Vanadium