Oikopleura fusiformis 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 : 356

Oikopleura fusiformis Fol, 1872

Oikopleura fusiformis Fol 1872: 473 , Pl. 3 Figs. 5–8. Bückmann 1969: 5, Fig. 7a–c. Fenaux 1993: 58, 71, 79; 1998: 300, 301. Aravena & Palma 2002: 314, Fig. 6A.

Oikopleura (Coecaria) fusiformis + Oikopleura (Coecaria) fusiformis f. cornutogastra: Tokioka 1960: 354.

Material examined. Six specimens ( MDAFWU 2020 /395–400), St.205, January 2020 .

Description. Trunk 1–1.5 mm long, elongated and narrow. Mouth turned upwards, with a pronounced lower lip, without oral glands. A large caecum extending from the left stomach lobe, obliquely upwards and backwards. The endostyle is short and broad, placed nearer to the anus than the mouth. Rectum extending towards the anterior wall of the stomach. Gonads are placed below the caecum; the ovary quite flat; the paired testes long, covering most of the stomach. Tail musculature with narrow muscular bands, and without subchordal glands.

Global distribution. The Antarctic Ocean, 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.