Iasis cylindrica (Cuvier, 1804)

Franco, P., Dahms, H. - U., Lo, W. - T. & Hwang, J. - S., 2017, Pelagic tunicates in the China Seas, Journal of Natural History 51 (15 - 16), pp. 917-936 : 931

Iasis cylindrica

Morphology

Body elongate and cylindrical and characterised by five body muscles, all of them meeting in the mid-dorsal region. Transverse ribs of gill bar meet dorsally and narrow towards the ventral surface. Solitary zooids measure up to 45 mm length with a soft test. Solitary forms have eight or nine separate muscles extending ventrally. MI to MIV are fused in the mid-dorsal line or converge. Aggregated zooids can measure up to 17 mm in length, and their body is fusiform because of the presence of short anterior and posterior projections (authors’ personal observations; Godeaux et al. 1998).

Biogeography

Recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico (WoRMS Editorial Board 2017) .