#4900 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Carpet Sea Squirt
🇳🇱 Japanse druipzakpijp ·Didemnum vexillum
📍 4494 Geersdijk, Nederland
📍 Vostok Bay, Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai, Russia
📍 Northern Ireland, UK
📍 Ponton, Thau, France
📍 Nanaimo, CA-BC, CA
📍 Weymouth, MA, USA
📍 Stearn's Wharf, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Kaitlyn Shaw · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Al Kordesch · CC0
- 3. © Alison Young · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. 4494 Geersdijk, Nederland:© Glenn Biscop · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. Vostok Bay, Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai, Russia:© Leslie Harris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. Northern Ireland, UK:© Bernard Picton · CC BY 4.0
- 7. Ponton, Thau, France:© Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Nanaimo, CA-BC, CA:© J. Driver · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Weymouth, MA, USA:© Laura Yates · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Stearn's Wharf, Santa Barbara, CA, USA:© Tom Turner · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Didemnum vexillum , the carpet sea squirt , is a species of colonial tunicate in the family Didemnidae. Believed to be native to the waters around Japan, it has been reported as an invasive species in a number of places in Europe, North America and New Zealand. It is sometimes given the nickname " D. vex " because of the vexing way in which it dominates marine ecosystems when introduced into new locations.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 18 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 1,681 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Patricia Mather in 2004 (22 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Carpet Sea Squirt
- Nederlands
- Japanse druipzakpijp
- scientific name
- Didemnum vexillum
- class
- Ascidiacea
- order
- Aplousobranchia
- family
- Didemnidae
- sightings in NL
- 18
- sightings in Europe
- 94
- sightings worldwide
- 1,681
- GBIF records in NL
- 2
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 2004 by Patricia Mather
relatives· Didemnidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 126506, Wikidata Q4917479, GBIF 2329770, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.