Eusynstyela miniata, (SLUITER, 1905)

Monniot, Claude, 2002, Stolidobranch ascidians from the tropical western Indian Ocean, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 135 (1), pp. 65-120 : 75

EUSYNSTYELA MINIATA ( SLUITER, 1905) ( Fig. 8 )

Styela miniata Sluiter, 1905: 11 , pl. 1 fig. 4–4C – Red Sea.

Polycarpa coccus Michaelsen, 1919: 89 , pl. 1 figs 13–15 – Red Sea.

? Polycarpa steindachneri Michaelsen, 1919: 93 , pl. 1 fig. 16 – Red Sea.

Material

Mozambique: Ibo Island, 20 m, coll. C. Monniot, 1995. Djibouti, 10–35 m, coll. C. Monniot, 1996.

Description

The colonies are made either of zooids closely packed together with their tunics fused or of zooids isolated from each other, flattened on the substrate. The colour is vermilion red. The top side is naked. The siphons are well apart and slightly protruding. The body size is highly variable in a same colony.

The tunic is very resistant. The body wall is thin and does not adhere very much to the tunic. The lining of the siphons is covered by protruding vesicles. Ten to 16 oral tentacles in two orders of size are planted on a blade-like ridge.

The single prepharyngeal crest is indented in a deep V around an elongated dorsal tubercle with an aperture forming an antero-posterior slit.

The branchial sac has four folds on each side, of unequal height. Folds no. 1 on each side of the dorsal lamina are the most developed but they are not very high. Two branchial formulae of two big specimens:

Figures

Figure 8. Eusynstyela miniata: A, specimen ventrally opened. B, internal side of two polycarps. C, external side of three polycarps. Scale bars: A = 2mm, B,C = 0.5 mm.