"Blue Paperclip Dudes"

We saw dozens of them in La Jolla Canyon on 7/30/00;
they're 1 to 1 1/2 inch in diameter and were free-floating.
It's hard to see in some of these pictures, but they were within
a very flimsy outer shell.

These are a species of
Larvacean,
which is a class of pelagic tunicates.

Tectillaria sp.

These photos are © 2000 Steve Gardner