Tunicate Invasiveness under Varying Conditions of Salinity and Temperature

Abstract

Sea squirts could be colonial or solitary and could easily adapt to many regions around the world because of their short lifespan, abilities to quickly gain energy supply, and relatively small biomass. An investigation was carried out to determine the degree of invasiveness of the tunicate through experimenting the viability of sea squirts under different salinities and temperatures designed to model the different environments of the globe where the sea squirt would potentially invade. Due to the inherently adaptive abilities of the sea squirt in their simple requirement of food, energy, and environment, sea squirts, whether colonial or solitary, have high chances of survival in anywhere with the minimal amount of energy and plankton food source [1]. The results of the experiment showed the high adaptability of the sea squirt in its thriving life functions under almost all the conditions given in the experiment, and a comparative competitive advantage over other filtering marine organisms.