Microcosmus sabatieri

This article is about the sea squirt. For the plants also called 'sea figs', see Carpobrotus. For other species called 'violet', see violet (disambiguation).

Microcosmus sabatieri, commonly called the grooved sea squirt,^[2] sea fig,^[3] or violet,^[3] is a species of tunicates (sea squirts). The species has a rocky-shape appearance. It is mainly found in the Mediterranean Sea.^[4] It is used as food in parts of Europe.^[2]

Microcosmus sabatieri
Microcosmus sabatieri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Tunicata
Class:	Ascidiacea
Order:	Stolidobranchia
Family:	Pyuridae
Genus:	Microcosmus
Species:	M. sabatieri
Binomial name
Microcosmus sabatieri (Roule, 1885)
Synonyms[1]
Ascidia microcosmus Cuvier, 1815 Cynthia scrotum Delle Chiaje, 1828 Microcosmus scrotum (Delle Chiaje, 1828)

Uses

Main article: Sea squirts as food

Three species of Microcosmus are edible presently, M. sabatieri, M. vulgaris, and M. polymorphus (Vafidis 2008). ^{[citation needed]} In the Mediterranean Basin, it is eaten raw, often with an acidic condiment such as lemon juice or vinegar with shallots.^{[citation needed]} It has a strong iodine taste which not all appreciate.^{[citation needed]}

Names

The specific epithet sabatieri is in honor of zoologist Armand Sabatier.^[3] The name 'violet' is from the distinguishing violet stripes on the siphon.^[3]

The species has many common names. In Dutch it is violet-zakpijp (lit. violet pocket-pipe)^[2] or begroeide zakpijp (overgrown pocket-pipe).^[3] In French it's violet,^[2][3] figue de mer (lit. sea fig),^[3] and in Marseille, patate de mer (lit. sea potato),^[3] or vioulé.^[3] In Northern Catalonia it's called bijú or bijut (jewel)^[3] and in the Principality bunyol or ou de mar (sea fritter or sea egg).^[5] In German the common term is Seefeige (lit. sea fig)^[2] or eßbare Seescheide (edible sea sheath).^[3] It is Φούσκα (foúska, lit. bubble or puff) in Greek.^[4] In Italian, limone di mare (sea lemon) or uova di mare (sea egg) are used.^[3] Names in Spanish include provecho (profit), patatas de mar (sea potatoes), and buñuelo de mar (sea fritter).^[3] In Ligurian it can be called stronsci de mä (sea turds).^[3] In Morocco, in both Moroccan Darija and Berber, it's called fezḍāḍ (فزضاض) or afezḍāḍ (ⴰⴼⴻⵣⴹⴰⴹ, أفزضاض).^[6]

Other names it is sold under include:

• viourlet^{[citation needed]}
• bijut/bichu^{[citation needed]}
• carnummole (Campania)^{[citation needed]}
• morsko jaje (lit. "sea egg"; Croatia)^{[citation needed]}
• taratufi (Apulia)^{[citation needed]}

Note that plants of the genus Carpobrotus are also known as 'sea figs'.^[7]

Gallery

• 
  Microcosmus sabatieri at Banyuls-sur-Mer
• 
  Microcosmus sabatieri at Banyuls-sur-Mer
• 
  Inhalant siphon of Microcosmos sabatieri. The yellow feature at the left is a clutch of mollusk eggs.