California Sea Pork (Aplidium californicum)

Description: California sea pork is a compound tunicate that can reach 30 cm across and 3 cm thick. It appears from transparent, gray, white, yellow, orange, or brown. The colony is very smooth looking and sticks out from the surface it lives on.

Habitat: Any hard surface from rocks to shells or even the backs of crabs can be home for the California sea pork. Although it’s named the “California” sea pork, it can be found from Alaska to the Gulf of California, Mexico and even in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

Diet: These tunicates are filter feeders, consuming particles out of the water column.

Tide Pool Tidbits: 

• California sea pork gets its name from its color and thin appearance which resembles pork fat.

• Many species of sea stars, including leather stars and bat stars, eat California sea pork.

• This is one of the most common compound tunicates we see at Haystack Rock.

References: The New Beachcomber’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest by J Duane Sept, Walla Walla University