Lissoclinum, Verrill, 1871

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 : 6

Lissoclinum sp./spp.

All species in this genus have a straight sperm duct, spicules which vary in morphology between species, and a variable number of testes.

#1174, large colony with tetrahedral spicules; some zooids with small gonads not fully developed. Single testis. Oocytes in some zooids. Larvae present.

#2587, colony 2.4 cm in length; tunic clear. Large tetrahedral spicules up to 100+ um, fatter than in #3866, dense around zooids.

#2625, three colonies; orange zooids. Some black pigment in otherwise clear tunic. Largest colony 16 mm; zooids with single testis. Green cells in tunic aggregated around tetrahedral spicules but none in zooids. Spicules densest around oral siphons. Thoraxes strongly contracted. No larvae.

#3803, examined by Francoise Monniot. Zooids without gonads but with mature larvae. Spicules tetrahedral in shape. In stained preserved larvae, one bud visible on each side, three adhesive papillae in a line, six pairs of lateral ampullae except one larva had six ampullae on one side and seven on the other side.

#3812, small tan fleshy colony 2.3 cm in longest dimension. Spicules tetrahedral, more sparse than in other samples. Spicules not characteristic of L. verrilli ( Van Name, 1902) ; more short center knobs present than in published descriptions of L. verrilli . With brooded unhatched tadpoles.

#3866, clear tunic with tetrahedral spicules 50–80 µm. No larvae, no testis.