Eusynstyela miniata ( Sluiter, 1905 )

Monniot, Françoise, 2012, Some ascidians from the southern coast of Madagascar collected during the “ AtimoVatae ” survey, Zootaxa 3197, pp. 1-42 : 34

Eusynstyela miniata ( Sluiter, 1905)

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

Eusynstyela miniata: Monniot C. 2002: 75 fig. 8 and synonymy. Mozambique, Djibouti

Station. DW3519 (MNHN S1 EUS 48)

Both colonies are thin sheets made of flat close zooids included in a very resistant tunic, one of them settled on a piece of coral the other on a sponge. The colour has disappeared in alcohol. The siphons are well apart. The body wall is thin and transparent. The internal side of the oral siphon has papillae. 18 to 20 oral tentacles are regularly distributed in 2 orders of size. The dorsal tubercle is in a deep V of the peripharyngeal band. The branchial sac has 4 folds on each side with 6 to 8 longitudinal vessels. The gut is short. The stomach has a small caecum and 8 folds. The gonads are numerous, distributed in 2 longitudinal lines in a ventral position. Each polycarp is made of 2 testis lobes applied against the body wall and covered by the round ovary. Numerous endocarps are scattered on the body wall.

The species distribution comprises the Red Sea, Djibouti, Mozambique and now the south of Madagascar.