Clavelina moluccensis

About this species

Clavelina moluccensis, common name bluebell tunicate, blue bell tunicate, or blue sea squirt is a species of tunicate, in the genus Clavelina. Like all ascidians, these sessile animals are filter feeders.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Clavelina moluccensis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 61 records
February: 50 records
March: 60 records
April: 40 records
May: 40 records
June: 32 records
July: 25 records
August: 35 records
September: 52 records
October: 35 records
November: 41 records
December: 43 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–61 m · Deepest record: 924 m

0–10 m: 5 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–29 °C

16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 10 records

Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) klukoff, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

Other scientific names: Clavelina molluccensis, Podoclavella moluccensis

Similar species

Social Tunicate
Clavelina robusta
Clavelina detorta
Clavelina fecunda
Stalked sea squirt
Nephtheis fascicularis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
106 open-data records from 1908 to 2005.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.