(Alder and Hancock, 1848)
Description
External appearance
Solitary. Body globular to ovoid, up to 20 mm in diameter. Test thin, bearing numerous fibrils with adhering sand, mud, shells, etc.
Characters
Oral siphon 6-lobed; atrial siphon 4-lobed. Siphons placed close together. About 32 branched branchial tentacles of variable sizes. Branchial sac with 8 rows of curved and spirally arranged stigmata; no folds; 7 internal longitudinal bars on each side. Gut left of branchial sac; stomach narrow and small, not marked off from rest of gut, bearing many diverticula forming a complex liver. Only one gonad, placed on left side; consisting of a tubular ovary and marginal male follicles (E. arenosa morphology).
Habitat
Unattached on sand or mud; from shallow water down to about 150 metres.
Distribution
From Norway down to the English Channel.