Biodiversity & Conservation

Baked bean ascidian - Dendrodoa grossularia

Dendrodoa grossularia

Image Keith Hiscock - Colony of Dendrodoa grossularia on rock surface. Image width ca 10-15 cm.
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Distribution map

Dendrodoa grossularia recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Dendrodoa grossularia is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Chordata Sea squirts, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals
Class Ascidiacea Sea squirts
Authority (van Beneden, 1846)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Widely distributed, and locally common, around British and Irish coasts. Not recorded in northeast Scotland, the coast south of the Humber to the Stour and the south coast of Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found on the lower shore and sublittorally to a depth of 600 m on a variety of substrata including rock, shell, other ascidians and algae. It is particularly abundant and dominates rocks in two contrasting situations: in surge gullies and caves exposed to severe wave action and in locations entirely sheltered from wave action where tidal streams are moderate to strong.
Text page icon Description Dendrodoa grossularia is a solitary, reddish-brown sea squirt, up to 2 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, which occurs singly or aggregated in dense, bumpy clusters. It is firm to the touch and the shape of individuals varies from flattened and rounded on a spreading base when solitary, to upright, elongated and cylindrical when aggregated. The two short but conspicuous siphons are square or four-lobed in outline when partly contracted, but round and flared when actively pumping.
Identifying features
  • A solitary species occurring singly or in dense, bumpy clusters reddish-brown.
  • 2 short, conspicuous siphons.
Additional information icon Additional information Also known as the gooseberry sea squirt. This species is similar in external appearance to Distomus variolus, Stolonica socialis, and Polycarpa scuba. The internal anatomy is important in distinguishing between species. The siphons of Dendrodoa grossularia are more conspicuous than those of Distomus variolosus.

This review can be cited as follows:

Penny Avant 2008. Dendrodoa grossularia. Baked bean ascidian. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 23/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3128>