Cactus Squirt (Boltenia echinata)
Common name: cactus sea squirt
Scientific name: Boltenia echinata
Locations: undersides of large rocks and within kelp holdfasts in high current areas
Seasonality: available year round
Colors: peachy - red with fuzzy white spikes
Size: 1/4" - 1/2"
Collected: by hand, knife to detach them from rocks
Quantity: sold by the each
Common name: cactus sea squirt
Scientific name: Boltenia echinata
Locations: undersides of large rocks and within kelp holdfasts in high current areas
Seasonality: available year round
Colors: peachy - red with fuzzy white spikes
Size: 1/4" - 1/2"
Collected: by hand, knife to detach them from rocks
Quantity: sold by the each
Common name: cactus sea squirt
Scientific name: Boltenia echinata
Locations: undersides of large rocks and within kelp holdfasts in high current areas
Seasonality: available year round
Colors: peachy - red with fuzzy white spikes
Size: 1/4" - 1/2"
Collected: by hand, knife to detach them from rocks
Quantity: sold by the each
Tidepool Tim says, "If we ever have a Tidepool Tim's sea creature cartoon, this guy will be the star of the show for certain. It may be a benthic bore - slowly filter feeding its life away - but they are fuzzy and cute. These sea squirts are so covered in spines or fuzz that for years, I hardly ever took notice of them as I was collecting. Finally one day my hand slipped and I happened to hit one - out squirted the most delicate little charge of water - aha! That's a sea squirt there. Cactus squirts are not very common in our area, but in some places they are easy to find.”
