Physical Description
 
(from left to right) Figure 4: Colony of B. leachi attached to a fragment of dead coral. Figure 5: Arrangement of zooids of B. leachi.
B. leachi colonies can be found in a variety of colours, ranging from transparent to red, green and yellow (Davie, 2011, NIMPIS, 2012b). B. leachi is a compound ascidian, which means that individual zooids are completely embedded in a soft, fleshy tunic (Carver et al., 2006, Ruppert et al., 2004). Zooids can grow to approximately 5 mm wide in diameter and are arranged in chains and lobes (Figure 4 and 5) (Davie, 2011, NIMPIS, 2012b). The zooids have individual buccal siphons and a shared atrial siphon that opens from a common exhaust chamber called the cloaca (Ruppert et al., 2004). Colonies are sheet like and encrusting, approximately 2 to 3 mm thick, and can grow up to 100 mm or more (Davie, 2011).
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