Cactus Squirt (Boltenia echinata)

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Live Cactus Sea Squirt (Boltenia echinata)
Please note this is a live marine specimen.

The Cactus Sea Squirt (Boltenia echinata) is a small, soft-bodied tunicate found clinging to the undersides of rocks and nestled within kelp holdfasts in high-current areas along the Maine coast. Recognized by its distinctive peach-to-red body covered in fine, fuzzy white spines, this species resembles a tiny marine cactus. These filter-feeding invertebrates draw in seawater through an incurrent siphon, extracting plankton and organic particles before expelling clean water—playing an important role in maintaining marine ecosystem health. Each specimen is carefully detached from rocks by hand using a knife and packed live for aquarium display, classroom study, or marine biology research.

Key Facts:
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: ¼” – ½”
Collected: By hand, knife used to detach from rocks
Quantity: Sold by the each
Note: This is a live marine specimen. Natural variations in size, color, and appearance from photos should be expected. If you would like any specimen preserved, please send a request to: info@gulfofme.com.

Live Cactus Sea Squirt (Boltenia echinata)
Please note this is a live marine specimen.

The Cactus Sea Squirt (Boltenia echinata) is a small, soft-bodied tunicate found clinging to the undersides of rocks and nestled within kelp holdfasts in high-current areas along the Maine coast. Recognized by its distinctive peach-to-red body covered in fine, fuzzy white spines, this species resembles a tiny marine cactus. These filter-feeding invertebrates draw in seawater through an incurrent siphon, extracting plankton and organic particles before expelling clean water—playing an important role in maintaining marine ecosystem health. Each specimen is carefully detached from rocks by hand using a knife and packed live for aquarium display, classroom study, or marine biology research.

Key Facts:
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: ¼” – ½”
Collected: By hand, knife used to detach from rocks
Quantity: Sold by the each
Note: This is a live marine specimen. Natural variations in size, color, and appearance from photos should be expected. If you would like any specimen preserved, please send a request to: info@gulfofme.com.

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The cactus squirt is toward the bottom left. It's a reddish color. It's fastened right onto another tunicate species, white crust.

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.”