Ascidia gemmata Sluiter, 1895

Lambert, Gretchen, Lee, Serina Siew-Chen & Teo, Serena Lay-Ming, 2021, Ascidians collected during the 2013 Singapore Strait International Marine Biodiversity Workshop, Zootaxa 4933 (1), pp. 1-38 : 13

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4933.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:56476487-ABC9-4C1C-A73F-D39E55DB9005
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4547900
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/BB593765-FFA5-E73D-FF6C-FB41FB58F834
treatment provided by	Plazi (2021-02-18 07:13:21, last updated 2024-11-29 10:16:15)
scientific name	Ascidia gemmata Sluiter, 1895
status

Treatment

Figure 5 C, D View FIGURE 5

Usually the siphons are red striped, with some additional red on both sides of endostyle and prebranchial area; color fades somewhat in formalin. Dense network of tunic blood vessels is usually visible exteriorly. In large older specimens the tunic becomes thick, cartilaginous, and yellowish except the red striped branchial siphon. The atrial siphon is usually in the posterior quarter of the body, sometimes almost at the posterior end of the body. There are numerous long dense filiform oral tentacles. The anterior rectum is usually swollen, narrowing to the anus. The antero-posteriorly flattened branchial papillae, shape of dorsal tubercle, number of stigmata per mesh and other characters all agree with published descriptions.

#0154D, one small, 2 cm long. About 50 oral tentacles. The prepharyngeal band is wide, the groove shallow with the tubercle, sparsely papillated, the papillae very tiny.

#1228B, large, 7.9 cm in length in the tunic, 7.2 cm long out of tunic. Oral siphon with eight lobes. Dorsal tubercle slightly elongated U with inrolled ends directed anteriorly. Dorsal ganglion at top of gut loop, 2 cm from the dorsal tubercle. A few large and numerous small unidentified amphipods in the branchial sac.

#2575, length 2.5 cm. With amphipods and a parasitic copepod. Oral siphon with ten lobes; rectum not distended. Also a small ascidiid, 7.5mm long out of tunic, attached by entire left side, the left side tunic very thin.

#4631, juvenile; body out of tunic 1.6 cm in length. Rectum only somewhat enlarged.

Widely distributed and common in the tropical west Pacific: Palau, Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Bali, Ponape, Majuro, Sea of Japan, Guam, Panama (Pacific side, a dubious identification by Bonnet et al. 2013).

Detailed references with figures: Tokioka (1950), Kott (1985), Monniot C. (1991a), Nishikawa (1991), Monniot F. & Monniot C. (2001, 2008), Lee et al. (2013). Other references: Nishikawa (1984, 1986), Zheng (1995), Sanamyan (1998, a questionable identification from the NW Pacific), Lambert (2003), Lee et al. (2016).

References

Bonnet, N. Y. K., Rocha, R. M. & Carman, M. R. (2013) Ascidiidae Herdman, 1882 (Tunicata: Ascidiacea) on the Pacific coast of Panama. Zootaxa, 3691 (3), 351 - 364. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 3691.3.4

Kott, P. (1985) The Australian Ascidiacea part 1, Phlebobranchia and Stolidobranchia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 23, 1 - 440.

Lambert, G. (2003) Marine biodiversity of Guam: the Ascidiacea. Micronesica, 35 - 36, 588 - 597.

Lee, S. S. - C., Teo, S. L. - M. & Lambert, G. (2013) New records of solitary ascidians on artificial structures in Singapore waters. Marine Biodiversity Records, 6, 1 - 18. https: // doi. org / 10.1017 / S 1755267213000638

Lee, S. S. - C., Chan, J. Y-H., Teo, S. L. - M. & Lambert, G. (2016) State of knowledge of ascidian diversity in South China Sea and new records for Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 34, 718 - 743.

Nishikawa, T. (1984) Ascidians from the Truk Islands, Ponape Island and Majuro Atoll (Tunicata, Ascidiacea). Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Systematic Zoology, 27, 107 - 140.

Nishikawa, T. (1986) Ascidians from the Gilbert and Solomon Islands and Nauru. I. Perophoridae, Ascidiidae and Corellidae. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Systematic Zoology, 32, 30 - 78.

Nishikawa, T. (1991) The ascidians of the Japan Sea. II. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 35, 25 - 170. https: // doi. org / 10.5134 / 176172

Sanamyan, K. (1998) Ascidians from the North-western Pacific region. 5. Phlebobranchia. Ophelia, 49, 97 - 116. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00785326.1998.10409376

Sluiter, C. P. (1895) Tunicaten. In: Semon, R. (Ed.), Zoologische Forschungsreisen in Australien und den malagischen Archipel. Denkschriften der Medicinisch-Naturwissenschftlichen Gesellschaft zu Jena. Vol. 8. Verlag Von Gustav Fischer, Jena, pp. 163 - 186.

Tokioka, T. (1950) Ascidians from the Palao Islands. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 1, 115 - 150. https: // doi. org / 10.5134 / 174438

Zheng, C. (1995) Species diversity of ascidian in the coastal China Seas. Chinese Biodiversity, 3 (4), 201 - 205.

Figures

FIGURE 5. A, B: Ascidia sydneiensis about 1.5 cm in length. A: left side in tunic; B: closeup of a few clear tunic tubercles. C, D: Ascidia gemmata 7.9 cm in length in tunic (C) and left side, 7.2 cm long with tunic removed (D); E–G: Phallusia arabica. E: three individuals, largest 5.5 cm in length; F: left side of another individual 2.9 cm in length out of tunic; G: closeup of tunic blood vessels.