Ecteinascidia sluiteri Herdman, 1906

Ecteinascidia sluiteri Herdman, 1906: 300; Kott: 1985: 98; Kott: 2003: 1639; Kott 2004: 40; Monniot C. 1992:7; Monniot C. 1994: 229; Monniot C. 1997: 566; Monniot F. & Monniot C. 2008: 850.

Material. Indonesia. West Papua, Gam Island, tunnel leading to Danau A Gam marine lake, 00°26.414’S – 130°41.193’E, 0.5m, 23/XI/2007, coll. L.J. Bell and L.E. Martin, TAG 0 0 3 (MNHN P2 ECT 107).

The colonies are attached to the soft coral Carijoa . The yellow translucent zooids are 8mm in length on thin stolons. The siphons are retracted, they have numerous lobes. The atrial aperture is about ¼ the body length behind the oral opening. The musculature consists of transverse fibres in limited areas in the middle of each side, as figured in Monniot C. (1992 fig.2). The branchial sac is thin with 14 stigmata rows. The sperm duct is shorter than the rectum. The testis follicles do not encircle the ovary.

E. sluiteri is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific on all types of substrates at shallow depths. It differs from E.diaphanis by the colour, the terminal oral siphon and the lateral cloacal siphon, and a different muscular pattern.