This is a mature Sea Squirt. It's really beautiful, isn't it? Translucent and 'Avatar' Blue, and all.
In its larval state, the Sea Squirt has a tail. It swims around to eat and get out of the way of danger. But when it matures it attaches itself to something and just absorbs the nutrients it needs from the water.
Oh, and it goes through one other transformational step -- it 'auto-digests' its brain. You see, like its tail, the Squirt no longer needs its brain, which was handy when there was a lot to do. So no more brain.
What an efficient bit of evolutionary adaptation!
And that's why I moved out of the suburbs.
Thanks to Dr. Stuart Brown and his book Play! as discussed on Dr. Ginger Campbell's always wonderful Brain Science Podcast.
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