---
title: Turkish Ascidian (Rhodosoma turcicum)
scientific_name: Rhodosoma turcicum
common_name: Turkish Ascidian
taxon: Sea squirts
published: 2026-08-08T18:49:37.751Z
updated: 2026-08-08T21:34:28.829Z
tags: Turkish Ascidian, Rhodosoma turcicum, Sea squirts, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/tunicates/sea-squirts/turkish-ascidian
---

# Turkish Ascidian (*Rhodosoma turcicum*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Sea squirts (*Ascidiacea*)
- **Size:** up to 4 cm across
- **Depth:** 2-30 m
- **Diet:** Filter feeder
- **Activity:** Cathemeral
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Habitat:** Shaded rock, often among algae and rubble
- **Reproduction:** Broadcast spawner, Simultaneous hermaphrodite

## How to recognise it

- flattened body with a hinged lid that closes over both siphons
- translucent tunic, often with sand grains stuck to it
- closes up completely when disturbed
- width up to 4 cm

A small flattened sea squirt with something no other ascidian here has: a hinged lid. The front of the tunic forms a rigid flap that swings shut over both siphons, sealing the animal inside a closed box, and a disturbed individual does exactly that within a second or two.

At about 4 cm (1.6 in) across, with a translucent tunic that usually collects sand grains, it is easy to overlook among algae and rubble - and once shut, it looks like nothing at all. Why this genus evolved a door when its relatives get by on contraction alone is not settled; the likely answer is predation by small fish that pick at exposed siphons. Feeding is standard for the group: water in, mucus net, water out, several litres an hour through an animal the size of a coin.

## Also known as

- **Portuguese:** ascídia
- **Japanese:** ガマグチボヤ
- **Russian:** Асцидия турецкая

## Scientific synonyms

- *Corellascidia herdmani* Hartmeyer, 1900
- *Pera huxleyi* Macdonald, 1862
- *Phallusia turcica* Savigny, 1816
- *Rhodosoma ceylonicum* Herdman, 1906
- *Rhodosoma huxleyi* (Macdonald, 1862)
- *Rhodosoma papillosum* (Stimpson, 1855)
- *Rhodosoma pellucidum* (Stimpson, 1855)
- *Rhodosoma pyxis* Traustedt, 1882
- *Rhodosoma seminudum* Heller, 1878
- *Schizascus papillosus* Stimpson, 1855
- *Schizascus pellucidas* Stimpson, 1855
- *Schizascus pellucidus* Stimpson, 1855

## Range

Atlantic Coast of South America, Federal Republic of Somalia, Greece, Gulf of Mexico, Mozambique, North Atlantic Ocean

---

*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/tunicates/sea-squirts/turkish-ascidian)*
*Updated: August 8, 2026*