Size
Individual zooids: 1-1.5cm (1/4"-1/2") Colony height: reaching 0.3cm (0.1") Colonies width: reaching 10cm (4").
Recognition Characters
Form large brightly colored patches on rocks and sponges. Although they form true colonies, the crowded individual zooids each have a distinct oval outline and two tubular siphons open on the upper surface. Colonies have a soft, gelatinous appearance. The tunic is actually transparent revealing the color of the zooid underneath.
Color
Can grow in multiple color variations. Commonly orange, yellow, or red.
Habitat & Depth
Encrust hard bottoms, coral, rocks, jetties and shipwrecks. Also attach to many other organisms including sponges, bryozoans, hydrozoan, and other tunicates. Shallow water to 30m.
Distribution at GRNMS
Locally abundant when found.
Geographic Range
North Carolina south to Jamaica. West coast of Florida, West Indies, and also Bermuda
Behavior & Notes
Similar in appearance to Symplegma viride but distinguished by homogenous color throughout tunic, especially around siphons.
Synonyms
Ruppert and Fox 1988