Gray Encrusting Compound Tunicate

Scientific Name: Diplosoma listerianum

This is a common encrusting compound tunicate that is commonly found along docks in the Pacific Northwest.  Similar to other tunicates it grows on rocks, barnacles, bivalves, as well as the exoskeleton of a number of crab species.  Though it may appear like a gray goo covering kelp that is growing along docks, it can be quite beautiful when viewed under a dissecting microscope.

Photos and Video by Noah Elkink

References

Lamb, Andrew, and Bernard P. Hanby. Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: a Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds and Selected Fishes. Madeira Park, BC, Harbour Publ., 2009.