Oikopleura rufescens Fol, 1872

Karunarathne, Krishan D. & Croos, M. D. S. T. De, 2021, Pelagic tunicates (Appendicularia and Thaliacea) of Sri Lanka: two first records with an annotated checklist, Zootaxa 5067 (3), pp. 352-376 : 357

Oikopleura rufescens Fol, 1872

Oikopleura rufescens Fol 1872: 471 , Pl. 10 Fig. 3 . Bückmann 1969: 3. Fenaux 1993: 57, 71, 80; 1998: 300, 302. Aravena & Palma 2002: 314, Fig. 5B.

Oikopleura (Vexillaria) rufescens: Tokioka 1960: 355 .

Material examined. Thirteen specimens ( MDAFWU 2020 /423–435), St.205, January 2020 .

Description. Trunk 1.0–2.0 mm long, compact. The left stomach lobe is elliptical-shaped, without a stomach caecum. Oral glands are spherical, fairly large and similar in size. Rectum nearly vertical and anus under the anterior wall of the stomach. Endostyle is almost at the same distance between the mouth and the anus. Gonads dorsal, adjoining the coil of the gut and tapering toward the posterior end in mature individuals. Tail musculature narrow, with one spindle-shaped subchordal cell.

Global distribution. The Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea ( Fenaux et al. 1998); Australian waters ( Thompson 1948). Type locality: Straits of Messina, Mediterranean Sea.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Re-reported salp, Pegea confoederata, to Sri Lanka in “Waya-jel-Survey” in preserved form (A–D): a colony of zooids (A); embryo (B); aggregate zooid (C); solitary zooid (D). E—endostyle; G—gill; N—nucleus; S—stolon. Scales: B = 5 mm; C & D = 8 mm; A = 20 mm.