User talk:Gfdavis/Clavelina picta

Clavelina picta are invertebrate filter feeders that feed by inducing a current into the branchial cavity from the incurrent siphon, with the help of the endostyle using cilia. Mucus glands in the endostyle, secretes mucus used to filter through the incoming water and food particles. Once sorted, the mucus is moved by cilia to move food into the esophagus along the dorsal groove. The diet of a tunicate is mostly made of algae and plankton. Tunicates also have tentacles that keep larger particles from entering the oral siphon.

Tunicates, including C. picta, also have defensive measures such as acids or allelochemicals to inhibit microbes and predator organisms from infecting or consuming them. These properties make them valuable to pharmaceutical companies. Vanadium, an elemental metal is also found in some tunicates, including C. picta, as a metabolic poison and this can help make them unpalatable to predators.