Abandoned mucus houses sink to the deep, collecting organic particles during their descent.

They make an important contribution to marine snow, since Oikopleura is abundant and is a very active filterer, using powerful strokes of its tail.

[4] Oikopleura has been found to possibly be paraphyletic with respect to several other oikopleurid genera, namely: Folia, Stegosoma, Mesoikopleura, and Megalocercus.

The genus might also harbour more diversity than thought, with species complexes like Oikopleura dioica comprising several reproductively incompatible clades despite consistent general morphology.

The loss raises the question of the evolutionary constraints that have prevented similar changes in the other chordates.