I think this is a tunicate and why does it shed like this every few days ?

[((FORDTECH))]

Hello I purchased this what I think is a tunicate 2 months ago. Right away I noticed that every few days it seems to shed for no reason. Nothing is touching it or bothering it. Is this normal. After doing a few searches I could not find much on these. Here is a short video and few pics. And help or info is appreciated.

Tunicate shedding

youtube.com

 

[Timfish]

I'd agree it's a tunicate. My guess and i want to emphasize it's a guess is there's something bacterial going on with it. But it seems to be very irritated by something at the least. Is it possible it's getting stung by sweeper tenticals or is it up against some zoas? Tunicates usually are found it lower light so you might try moving both away from other corals and to someplace dimmer.

Here's some info on mucus coating if you're interested

The microbiome of coral surface mucus has a key role in mediating holobiont health and survival upon disturbance

Microbes are well-recognized members of the coral holobiont. However, little is known about the short-term dynamics of mucus-associated microbial communities under natural conditions and after disturbances, and how these dynamics relate to the host's ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Regulation of microbial populations by coral surface mucus and mucus-associated bacteria on JSTOR

Kim B. Ritchie, Regulation of microbial populations by coral surface mucus and mucus-associated bacteria, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 322 (September 20 2006), pp. 1-14

www.jstor.org