What fascinating animal can eat itself?

It is the intriguing Sea Squirt!

Ascidiacea. (2023, August 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AscidiaceaAscidiacea. (2023, August 22). In Wikipedia.colony with budding juveniles.

In our oceans, there exists an unusual and ancient creature!

Surprisingly, it is not a mollusk, sponge, or any other distantly related invertebrate, but a chordate, similar to birds, frogs, dogs, cats, and humans. This creature is our cousin! (As revealed by scientists.)

In the animal world, self-cannibalism is a rare occurrence. Once the sea squirt undergoes metamorphosis, they become immobile and firmly attached to the rocky sea floor. They filter the water around them, trapping and digesting any plankton coming their way with their mucus-coated inner linings.

Sea squirts live solitary or in colonies.

sea-squirt-colony-Myanmar-coral-reef.jpg (800×600) (britannica.com)

Colors:

Adults appear in many bright colors, almost sponge-like with an incurrent & excurrent siphon.

Ascidiacea. (2023, August 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AscidiaceaBy Nhobgood Nick Hobgood — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5682975

Scientists reveal that,