Predatory tunicate
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Through Canyon, Seabed and Adaptation
Predatory tunicates are hermaphrodites, producing both eggs and sperm which drift into the water. If there are no other tunicates nearby, they can self-fertilize the eggs.
Taxonomy
The predatory tunicate belongs to the family Octacnemidae, which is a group of deep-sea ascidians. Thanks to the hypertrophied oral siphon, two larger lips have formed to be able to catch prey.
Octacnemidae have been suspected to share phylogenetic relations with the families Cionidae and/or Corellidae due to the similarities in their morphology.
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Distribution
Megalodicopia hians can be found sparsely to depths of about 3,800 m (12,500 ft) through the Monterey Canyon system. Their abundance tended to be the greatest in the oxygen-minimum zone, which is 400–800 m (1,300–2,600 ft) down.