Description: A colonial ascidian that is a uniform bright red to orange in colour, with no white markings. Lobes and are made up of zooids are arranged around a central (cloacal) opening, around which there are long teeth (languets) visible. Lobes can range in size and form, initially appearing quite regular and ‘barrel-shaped’ but sometimes forming larger aggregations. Always seems to grow in small groups of lobes, never forming more extensive sheets.

Habitat: Found on hard substrata (boulders, rocky reef, wrecks) from around 5 to 20 m depth.

Distribution: Current distribution is unclear as this species is not yet described. Reported from Strangford Lough, Rathlin Island and outer Co. Down coast in Northern Ireland. Other records are known from Irish Sea.

Similar Species: Could be confused with Aplidium nordmanni but it always has white markings which Aplidium ‘strawberry’ lacks.

Key Identification Features:

• Uniform bright red to orange colour, with no white markings.
• Zooids arranged quite regularly around central opening.
• Long ‘teeth’ (languets) visible around central opening.

iNaturalist: Aplidium "strawberry" at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.