Bizarre creature that looks like a rock, can breed with ITSELF and is considered a delicacy in Chile

Pyura Chilensis is a sea creature that lives off the coast of Chile and Peru

From the outside it appears to look like a rock covered in molluscs



It is born a male before developing female organs and can breed with itself

The blood of the so-called 'sea squirt' contains metal called vanadium



Lurking off the coast of Chile and Peru lives a sea creature that blends in so naturally with the rocks on which it lives you'd be forgiven for missing it.



However, if you were to accidentally stand on this living rock it will burst to expose a mass of blood-red hermaphrodite creatures considered a delicacy in the nearby Central American countries.

The creature is called Pyura chilensis - also known as Piure in Spanish - and it belongs to a class of sac-like marine life known as sea squirts.



Scroll down for video



This bizarre sea creature called the Pyura Chilensis lives off the coast of Chile and Peru is often called a living rock or sea squirt. It is born a male before developing female organs which means it can breed with itself. The unusual mass of organs feeds on algae and microrganisms by inhaling them through seawater The Pyura Chilensis, pictured, is fished commercially from the Pacific Ocean. Fisherman have to cut into the camouflaged living rock in which the creatures hide using a sharp knife or even a handsaw

The Piure is known as a tunicate, so-called because it is covered in a layer - or 'tunic' - of animal cellulose called tunicin.



Inside the living rock is a mass of organs surrounded by a layer of skin and muscle.

It is called a filter feeder because it inhales seawater, removes and feeds on the algae and microoganisms in the water, before exhaling the filtered water back into the sea.



The most interesting feature of this bizarre creature, however, is its reproductive skills.



The Piure is born a male and when it reaches puberty it also grows female organs, making the sea squirt a hermaphrodite.



When it comes to breeding season, the Piure releases eggs from its female organs at the same time it releases sperm from its male gonads into the seawater.

From the outside, the Pyura chilensis or Piure looks like a rock covered in molluscs, pictured left. Yet when the Piure is cut open the mass of blood-red organs, skin and muscles are exposed, pictured right



If the eggs and sperm collide they form a 'fertile cloud' that will produce tadpole-style children.



These male tadpoles will then settle onto a nearby rock and grow into adults.

Piure's only breed like this when they are alone; if there are other members of the species nearby, the creature will choose to cross-breed to increase the chances of success.



Despite its red colour, the blood of the Piure is clear.



It also contains a high level of vanadium - a hard, silvery grey metal that occurs naturally in more than 60 different minerals around the world.

The flesh of the Piure, pictured, is canned or sold as strips and can be eaten raw, or cooked. It is also exported to Sweden and Japan. Its blood is clear and contains high levels of metallic element vanadium

The concentration of vanadium produced by the Piure is around 10 million times the amount found in surrounding seawater. Because of its high level of vanadium, and the element's toxicity, there are concerns about eating the creature

According to Scientific American magazine, the concentration of vanadium produced by the Piure is around ten million times the amount found in the surrounding seawater, and researchers are unsure what the function this element has in these creatures.



On land, vanadium is used to make steel alloys.

The animal is one of the main food sources for aquatic species such as the Chilean abalone but it also fished commercially and served in Chilean restaurants.

The living rock has to be cut using a sharp knife or handsaw before the siphons are pulled from the tunic.



This flesh is canned or sold as strips and can be eaten raw, or cooked. It is also exported to Sweden and Japan.