Ritterella rubra Abbott & Trason, 1968

Lambert, Gretchen, 2019, The Ascidiacea collected during the 2017 British Columbia Hakai MarineGEO BioBlitz, Zootaxa 4657 (3), pp. 401-436 : 414

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4657.3.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:86DD93B2-E8F4-4174-B105-9436357CB4B6
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5941191
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6A2E3761-A93F-FFC8-1390-FB42DFB1F808
treatment provided by	Plazi (2019-08-20 06:55:10, last updated 2024-11-29 11:27:52)
scientific name	Ritterella rubra Abbott & Trason, 1968
status

Treatment

Figure 8 View FIGURE 8 D–G

RHAK 2 BHAK 0601, 0602 UF 2460. Goose Island Group, Duck Island, low rocky intertidal.

One colony with two large heads and many smaller ones but only the large heads collected; largest one 1.8 cm wide at widest part and slightly flattened with short thick stalk, 3.9 cm long but had been cut off above the base. Sandy leathery tunic reddish-orange, lightly encrusted with sand and shell debris but none in the internal tunic which is translucent, somewhat tough and gel-like. Siphons are close together, bright red. Zooids orange, about 14 mm long, with about 14 rows of stigmata; the zooids were somewhat contracted making counts difficult. Stomach globular, very obscurely and irregularly lobed. Atrial chamber full of bright pinkish-red embryos in various stages of development, the most mature with three adhesive papillae in a row and numerous very short ampullae in several rows on each side as described by Abbott & Trason (1968); it was not possible to count them. Postabdomen extends into the stalk, with the ovary at the anterior end and containing a dozen or more orange or pinkish ova; testes follow with some testes covering the posterior portion of the ovary. All the morphological characters agree with the description given by Abbott & Trason (1968) except for the presence of one or two additional rows of stigmata; Abbott & Trason give the number as varying from 10–13 in colonies from the type locality in Monterey County, central California. A colony from SE Alaska ( O’Clair & O’Clair 1998) collected 5/25/1994 and identified by me also had 14 rows of stigmata. A name change was proposed by Brunetti (2007) based on his transferring the species to the genus Synoicum Phipps, 1774 , but this change is rejected because the distinguishing morphological characters for R. rubra place it in the genus Ritterella Harant, 1931 , not Synoicum .

This species is known from British Columbia to central California ( Abbott & Trason 1968, Abbott & Newberry 1980, O’Clair & O’Clair 1998, Lamb & Hanby 2005; Abbott et al. 2007).

References

Abbott, D. P. & Trason, W. B. (1968) Two new colonial ascidians from the west coast of North America. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 67, 143 - 154.

Abbott, D. P. & Newberry, A. T. (1980) Urochordata: the tunicates. In: Morris, R. H., Abbott, D. P. & Haderlie, E. C. (Eds.), Intertidal Invertebrates of California. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, pp. 177 - 226 + P 57 - P 67.

Abbott, D. P., Lambert, C. C., Lambert, G. & Newberry, A. T. (2007) Chordata: Ascidiacea. In: Carlton, J. T. (Ed.), The Light & Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon. Berkeley, California, University of California Press, chapter 35, pp. 918 - 933.

Brunetti, R. (2007) Nomenclatural Acts: homonymy in the Ascidiacea (Tunicata) and proposed nomina nova. Zootaxa, 1613, 67 - 68. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 1613.1. 5

Lamb, A. & Hanby, B. P. (2005) Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest - A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds and Selected Fishes. Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC., 398 pp.

O'Clair, R. M. & O'Clair, C. E. (1998) Southeast Alaska's Rocky Shores. Plant Press, Auke Bay, Alaska, 564 pp.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Aplousobranchia, Ritterellidae. A–C: Ritterella pulchra. A, whole colony; B, enlargement of one lobe of living colony; C, one zooid. D–G: Ritterella rubra. D, E: two lobes of same colony; F: one zooid; G; enlargement of thorax of same zooid. Scale bars: A, 0.7 cm; B, 1 mm; C, 4 mm; D, 5 mm; E: 7 mm; F, 1.2 mm. Photo D by G. Paulay.