White crust

Didemnum candidum

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth4–60 m
Water temperature9–29 °C
Best monthsMarch
How commonRare

All species

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 23 records
February: 20 records
March: 45 records
April: 15 records
May: 25 records
June: 14 records
July: 20 records
August: 26 records
September: 13 records
October: 18 records
November: 9 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–60 m · Deepest record: 368 m

0–10 m: 31 records
10–20 m: 75 records
20–30 m: 28 records
30–40 m: 28 records
40–50 m: 26 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 7 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–29 °C

8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 5 records
12–14 °C: 11 records
14–16 °C: 6 records
16–18 °C: 12 records
18–20 °C: 13 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 83 records
24–26 °C: 69 records
26–28 °C: 44 records
28–30 °C: 22 records

Names and classification

English: White crust, white crust, White didemnim, White Sponge Tunicate

Other scientific names: Didemnum annectens, Didemnum fusiferum, Didemnum novaeseelandiae, Leptoclinides africanus, Leptoclinum africanus, Leptoclinum annectens, Leptoclinum candidum, Leptoclinum cretaceum, Leptoclinum niveum

Similar species

Green Barrel Sea Squirt
Didemnum molle
Moseley's Ascidian
Didemnum moseleyi
Colonial tunicate
Didemnum perlucidum
Didemnum grande
Didemnum parau
Gray encrusting compound tunicate
Diplosoma listerianum

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
422 open-data records from 1884 to 2019.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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