Stalked sea squirt

Nephtheis fascicularis

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth8–42 m
Water temperature11–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary and October
How commonRare

About this species

Nephtheis fascicularis, commonly called the lollipop tunicate, lollipop coral, or blue palm coral, is a species of tunicate that is native to the shallow reefs of Indonesia. It is the only species in its genus Nephtheis. They are not photosynthetic, and live on plankton and small organic particles obtained from the water currents. The branched stems are formed by tiny polyps called zooids. Despite their name and appearance, they and other sea squirts are unrelated to true corals.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 0 records
February: 6 records
March: 0 records
April: 0 records
May: 0 records
June: 1 records
July: 2 records
August: 0 records
September: 0 records
October: 4 records
November: 2 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 8–42 m · Deepest record: 45 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 8 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–30 °C

10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 16 records

Names and classification

English: Stalked sea squirt

Names in 1 more languages

German: Pilz-Seescheide

Other scientific names: Colella thompsoni, Colella thomsoni, Nephtheis centripetens, Nephtheis faciformis, Nephtheis fascularis, Nephtheis malayensis, Nephtheis thompsoni, Nephtheis thomsoni, Oxycorynia fascicularis, Oxycorynia thompsoni

Similar species

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).
79 open-data records from 1908 to 2006.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist