Editing Tunicate (section)

===Body form===
[[Image:Tunicate green.jpg|thumb|Colonial tunicate with multiple openings in a single tunic.]]
Colonies of tunicates occur in a range of forms, and vary in the degree to which individual organisms, known as [[zooids]], integrate with one another. In the simplest systems, the individual animals are widely separated, but linked together by horizontal connections called [[stolon]]s, which grow along the seabed. Other species have the zooids growing closer together in a tuft or clustered together and sharing a common base. The most advanced colonies involve the integration of the zooids into a common structure surrounded by the tunic. These may have separate buccal siphons and a single central atrial siphon and may be organized into larger systems, with hundreds of star-shaped units. Often, the zooids in a colony are tiny but very numerous, and the colonies can form large encrusting or mat-like patches.<ref name=Ruppert/>