During the season of upwelling these pelagic tunicates, salps, may be swept into the outer bay filtering plankton as they swim. Tunicates, our cousins, are in the Phylum Chordata. This is the solitary phase; the ropelike chain is the cloned, sexual, aggregate phase that later will be extruded, often several hundred individuals.
Description: English: Exhibit in Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. Photography was permitted in the museum without restriction. Date: 9 November 2014, 09:12:02. Source: Own work. Author: Daderot.