Notes:Poecil{{{ostomatoida)
This open-sea relative of the sea squirts is an almost transparent gelatinous denizen of all temperate and tropical oceans. It filters minute (4-70 micrometer) particles from the water.

Salps alternate between solitary and aggregate forms. Under favorable conditions, rapid asexual reproduction produces aggregates that may reach a meter or more. While salps are usually typical of clear offshore waters, large numbers occasionally wash ashore, where they startle bathers. This occurred when Thalia washed in to the beach at Assateague Is., VA.over the 4th of July weekend, 2005.

Salps are eaten by sea turtles, various fishes, including the ocean sunfish Mola mola, and hyperiid amphipods

Dr. Julie Ambler and her students at Millersville University are studying the life cycle of Thalia in the mid-Atlantic.

Collected and photographed by: Julie Ambler and Melissa Day, Millersville University