Eudistoma olivaceum (Van Name, 1902)

A. Palomino-Alvarez, Lilian, Moreira Rocha, Rosana & Simoes, Nuno, 2019, Checklist of ascidians (Chordata, Tunicata) from the southern Gulf of Mexico, ZooKeys 832, pp. 1-33 : 1

Eudistoma olivaceum (Van Name, 1902) Fig. 3H

Material examined.

CAGoM-0016, Mha, 1 m, 12-03-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez; CAGoM-0078, Chp 2, 0.5 m, 11-06-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez; CAGoM-0025, Mad 4, 9 m, 04-04-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez; CAGoM-0060, Pro 1, 8 m, 26-05-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez; CAGoM-0036, Chel 2, 11-05-2015, 1 m, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez.

Remarks.

Zooids of some samples have a third opening at the base of the thorax through which fecal pellets are expelled. While colonies appeared healthy, this third opening may have been due to body wall rupture caused by obstruction of the atrial canal by incubating larvae in the atrial cavity or excess sediments in the water. The appearance of third siphons may be induced by experimental injuries in a few solitary ascidians (Jeffery et al. 2015).

Global distribution.

United States ( Van Name 1921, 1945; Plough 1978), Bermudas ( Berrill 1932; Monniot 1972; Van Name 1902, 1945), Jamaica ( Goodbody 2003), Cuba ( Van Name 1921), Puerto Rico ( Van Name 1921), Guadeloupe ( Monniot 1983c), Belize ( Goodbody 2004), Curaçao ( Van Name 1924; Millar 1962; Goodbody 1984), Venezuela (Millar 1962; Goodbody 1984a), Tobago ( Cole 2012), Senegal ( Lafargue and Wahl 1987), Micronesia ( Nishikawa 1984).