Biodiversity & Conservation

Lesser gooseberry sea squirt - Distomus variolosus

Distomus variolosus

Image Keith Hiscock - Lesser gooseberry sea squirt Distomus variolosus. Image width ca 10 cm.
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Distribution map

Distomus variolosus 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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Distomus variolosus 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 Gaertner in Pallas, 1774
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Distomus variolosus has been recorded in west Sussex, south Devon and Cornwall, Lundy, south and south-west Wales, south-east and western Ireland, north Wales, Isle of Man and the sound between Gighay and Hellisay in the Outer Hebrides.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Distomus variolosus is found on rocks, stones, around the bases of hydroids and on macroalgae, especially on the holdfasts of Laminaria hyperborea.
Text page icon Description This colonial sea squirt forms an encrusting mat of closely grouped zooids that are united at the base or side but are mostly free. The zooids are cylindrical or ovoid, up to 1 cm high, and are red to brown in colour. Both siphons are found at the upper end of the zooid.
Identifying features
  • Closely grouped cylindridal or ovoid zooids, up to 1 cm high.
  • Zooids united at base or side but mostly free.
  • Red to brown in colour.
  • Both siphons at upper end of each zooid.
Additional information icon Additional information Distomus variolosus may be confused with the baked bean ascidian, Dendrodoa grossularia, or another sea squirt Stolonica socialis. The internal anatomy is important when distinguishing between species. However, the siphons of Dendrodoa grossularia are more conspicuous than those of Distomus variolus (Millar, 1970).

This review can be cited as follows:

Olwen Ager 2006. Distomus variolosus. Lesser gooseberry sea squirt. 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=3185>