Closed Ascidian facility

The Christiaen group currently houses Ciona in different aquatic facilities located in the High Technology Center in Marineholmen.

Ciona robusta and Ciona intestinalis animals from different locations in Europe are grown from fertilized eggs to adulthood in artificial sea water in the group's closed experimental facility.

Adults collected from the wild, i.e. Marinas in the Bergen area, are kept in natural sea water in large tanks in the Appendicularian Facility. Finally, the Ascidian Facility is being retro-fitted to develop and maintain a home colony of Ciona robusta using conditioned natural sea water and scaled up cultures of microalgae.