About Aplidium elegans (Giard, 1872)
Aplidium elegans forms firm, flattened, globular masses that look like pink cushions, measuring 3 to 4 cm long. Its coloration is distinct: the overall colony is deep pink, with large white papillae surrounding the inhalant siphons of individual zooids. The arrangement of zooids within the colony creates a meandering pattern, with cloacal canals running between them. Zooids are embedded in a shared common test, and are grouped around winding, irregular cloacal canals. The oral siphons are slightly prominent, and bordered by eight small white lobes. As colonial ascidians and other benthic invertebrates do, this species shows great morphological variability in shape, size, and color, shaped by both genetic traits and local environmental conditions. Aplidium elegans occurs in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and English Channel. Its colonies grow on rocks in water between 5 and 20 meters deep. They can also be found attached to rocks on moderately exposed rocky sites that typically have moderate tidal streams. Mature colonies measure around 50 mm broad and 15 mm thick.
