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I found this plastic tube hanging in the seawater from a pier in the haven of Taranto, Ionian sea, southern Italy. I'm wondering what is the whitish jelly in the lowest part of the photo next to the yellow Botrylloides violaceus. It didn't seem to come off easily (I didn't insist much though) and it didn't have any macroscopic reaction when touched (no contraction or similar).

enter image description here

The photo was taken on the first days of January. The water was shallow in that point (no more than 2m deep) but close to deeper water, as expected from a haven, and rather polluted.

LinuxBlanket
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    The orange/yellow jelly organism is very likely a colonial tunicate (sea squirt) similar to the one from this post. I welcome you to do some of your own research to determine more species specifics :) – theforestecologist Jan 24 '18 at 00:17
  • Possible duplicate of What strange jelly-like thing is shown in the photo? – theforestecologist Jan 24 '18 at 00:18
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    Can a photo identification post really be a duplicate if it's a different photograph? I guess that's a topic we could pick up on meta. – MM8 Jan 24 '18 at 04:13
  • Thanks @theforestecologist! I hadn't see the question (I sent mine from a cellphone so I didn't see the suggestion) - it's actually Botrylloides violaceus, an alien invasive species. I'll edit my question and make the side quest the main one :) – LinuxBlanket Jan 24 '18 at 08:45
  • @TimonG. I don't think it's a duplicate, since it's a different species. However, it's true that I could determine the species basing the research on the similarity to that one. I guess it can or cannot be a duplicate depending on OP's ability to search for similar species. I agree that it's worth raising the issue on meta. – LinuxBlanket Jan 24 '18 at 09:57
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    No worries, LinuxBlanket -- just linking up the two questions. You're right that it's a different species and that closing it as a duplicate could easily be voted against. Generally with this type of question, the OP doesn't care about the actual species and knowing the type of organism alone suffices, which is why I voted to close. Interest in the specific species would be fair game for me to rescind my close vote. Regardless, I'll rescind the vote due to your edit. Thanks! – theforestecologist Jan 26 '18 at 02:28
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    @TimonG. Yes for sure. This happens all the time, especially with common ID questions such as for bed bugs, psocids, carpet beetles, etc. Sure it's not the "same" question, but it serves no benefit to litter the site with IDs of the same species. In these cases, closing isn't a bad thing or form of punishment; it's simply a way to keep the site tidy and allow future visitors ease of finding info they need. But please by all means, start a meta post about it and we'll see how the community feels about that current approach. Thanks – theforestecologist Jan 26 '18 at 02:32

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