Invertebrates
Predatory Tunicate
Megalodicopia hians · also called carnivorous sea squirt
Anchored permanently to the deep seafloor, a predatory tunicate has traded the gentle filter-feeding lifestyle of its relatives for something far more active, snapping a wide, hood-like mouth shut on any small animal that strays too close.
Overview
The predatory tunicate, Megalodicopia hians, is an unusual carnivorous invertebrate native to deep, cold ocean habitat across multiple ocean basins worldwide. Its abandonment of filter feeding, distinctive hood-like trapping mouth, and permanently fixed seafloor lifestyle make it one of the more behaviourally surprising members of the tunicate group found anywhere in the ocean.
A filter feeder that stopped filtering
While nearly all of its tunicate relatives make a living straining microscopic plankton from the water, the predatory tunicate has taken an entirely different evolutionary path, becoming a stationary ambush predator instead.
Status
Least Concern, remaining present across suitable deep ocean habitat worldwide and not targeted by fisheries.
Predatory Tunicate: common questions
Why is it unusual for a tunicate to be a predator?
This species has abandoned the filter-feeding lifestyle typical of most tunicates, which normally strain tiny plankton from passing water, evolving instead into an active predator that captures whole small invertebrates.
How does the predatory tunicate catch its prey?
This species has an unusually wide, hood-like oral opening that can snap shut around prey that brushes against or enters it, functioning much like a passive trap rather than requiring active pursuit.
Does the predatory tunicate move around to hunt?
No, this species remains permanently attached to a hard surface on the seafloor as an adult, relying entirely on prey coming within reach of its hood-like mouth rather than pursuing it.
Where does the predatory tunicate live?
This species is typically found in deep, cold ocean waters, often attached to hard substrates along continental slopes across multiple ocean basins worldwide.