Didemnidae

Didemnidae is the largest family of colonial tunicates in the order Aplousobranchia.

These marine animals are found in shallow water on the seabed. Members of this family have reduced zooids that form highly integrated and encrusting sheet-like colonies. The body of each zooid is divided into a thorax and an abdomen. They are highly speciose with 578 named species representing a fifth of the species in the class Ascidiacea and members of this family can be found in marine waters across the globe. Didemnidae is the only genera within Chordata to form obligate photo symbiotic relationships which are made with cyanobacteria form the genus Prochloron.