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Even being translucent didn't stop these animals from catching our eye during ROV dives in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Meet the translucent tunicate and the see-through sea cucumber! The first mysterious marine invertebrate is called a tunicate from the Culeolus genus. These sessile organisms and their shallow-water relatives are commonly called “sea squirts” due to their tendency to expel or “squirt“ out water when removed from the water. Part of the Phylum Chordata, believe it or not, this ascidian is more closely related to humans than any other of our common seafloor sightings. Tunicates have a tough carbohydrate body tunic that surrounds their water-pumping siphons and other organs. Listen to our Corps of Exploration wonder at this extraterrestrial-looking underwater animal and the associated biodiversity living alongside it. The second see-through sighting was a swimming sea cucumber or holothurian. Certain sea cucumbers can take flight to avoi
