CreatureData

Black tunicate

Phallusia nigra Savigny, 1816

Status not recordedother invertebrates

The black tunicate (Phallusia nigra) is a species in the family Ascidiidae, order Phlebobranchia.

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Quick facts about the black tunicate

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black tunicate live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the black tunicate as introduced in 8 countries.

  1. Bahrain
  2. Brazil
  3. Greece
  4. Israel
  5. Jamaica
  6. Lebanon
  7. Syria
  8. Türkiye

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the black tunicate endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the black tunicate classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAscidiacea
  4. orderPhlebobranchia
  5. familyAscidiidae
  6. genusPhallusia
  7. SpeciesPhallusia nigra Savigny, 1816

Synonyms Ascidia atra, Ascidia nigra, Ascidia somalensis, Ascidia somaliensis, Phallusia atra, Phallusia violacea, Phallusiopsis nigra, Thallusia nigra, Tunica nigra

Other names and names in other languages (1)
  • Ascidie noire lisseFrench

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the black tunicate

Other species in the same genus Phallusia.

CompareBlack tunicate vs Black sea-squirtBlack tunicate vs White sea-squirtBlack tunicate vs Obese ascidianBlack tunicate vs Green tube tunicate

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the black tunicate an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the black tunicate as introduced in 8 countries, including Bahrain, Brazil, Greece, Israel and Jamaica, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the black tunicate?

The black tunicate (Phallusia nigra) belongs to the family Ascidiidae in the order Phlebobranchia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black tunicate (Phallusia nigra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tunicate

MLA

“Black tunicate (Phallusia nigra).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tunicate.

BibTeX
@misc{black_tunicate_2026,
  title = {Black tunicate (Phallusia nigra)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tunicate},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}