sea squirt
noun
any tunicate, especially a sessile ascidian, so called from its habit of contracting its body and ejecting streams of water when disturbed.
Origin of sea squirt
First recorded in 1840–50
Words nearby sea squirt
sea snail,
sea snake,
sea spider,
sea squab,
sea squill,
sea squirt,
sea stack,
sea star,
sea steps,
sea stores,
sea swallow
Example sentences from the Web for sea squirt
This gap was filled some years ago by the discovery of the lancelet—Amphioxus—and the young of the sea-squirt—Ascidia.
British Dictionary definitions for sea squirt
sea squirt
noun
any minute primitive marine animal of the class Ascidiacea, most of which are sedentary, having a saclike body with openings through which water enters and leaves
See also ascidian
Scientific definitions for sea squirt
sea squirt
Any of various tunicates of the class Ascidiacea, having a transparent sac-shaped body with two siphons. One of the siphons is used to draw water (carrying oxygen and food particles) into the body, while the other expels it. Sea squirts are free-swimming as larvae but sessile as adults. Like other tunicates, sea squirts are chordates, but they have a notochord only in the larval stage.