Ecteinascidia turbinata , commonly known as the mangrove tunicate , is a species of tunicate in the family Perophoridae. The cancer drug trabectedin can be isolated from this species. Ecteinascidia turbinata is a colonial sea squirt. The individual zooids can grow to a height of 2. They are connected by a stolon at the base through which blood circulates between the zooids and which serves to attach the colony to the substrate.
The walls of the zooids are known as tunics and are strengthened with cellulose , which is unusual for an animal. The walls of the tunic are translucent and the pharyngeal basket can be seen through them. The siphon margins are orange because of the deposition of carotenoids there.
This is a warning colour , for E. Colonies can reach a width of 14 centimetres 5. Ecteinascidia turbinata is found all the year round in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea , the east coast of Florida , Bermuda and the Gulf of Mexico.
It primarily grows on the submerged roots of mangroves Rhizophora mangle. In Cuba, where it is abundant, it has been found at densities of one colony per metre of mangrove root. Ecteinascidia turbinata is a filter feeder. Each zooid draws water into its interior through the inhalant siphon at the top and expels it through the exhalant siphon.
Food particles, mostly plankton , get trapped in mucus as the water passes through a mesh-like pharyngeal basket. From here the particles are moved by cilia to the U-shaped gut. Undigested remains get expelled through the anus near the exhalent siphon where they get carried away by the water current. The colony can grow by budding, a form of asexual reproduction , new zooids growing from the stolon.
