sea squirt

noun

1. any tunicate, especially a sessile ascidian, so called from its habit of contracting its body and ejecting streams of water when disturbed.

sea squirt

noun

1. any minute primitive marine animal of the class Ascidiacea, most of which are sedentary, having a saclike body with openings through which water enters and leaves See also ascidian

sea squirt

1. Any of various tunicates of the class Ascidiacea, having a transparent sac-shaped body with two siphons. One of the siphons is used to draw water (carrying oxygen and food particles) into the body, while the other expels it. Sea squirts are free-swimming as larvae but sessile as adults. Like other tunicates, sea squirts are chordates, but they have a notochord only in the larval stage.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea squirt¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Some years I’ll get biofouling, like sea squirts and things will stick to it really early, which really affects whether I can use it for food.

From Freakonomics

This gap was filled some years ago by the discovery of the lancelet—Amphioxus—and the young of the sea-squirt—Ascidia.

From Project Gutenberg