Microcosmus helleri Herdman, 1881

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 : 29

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.4547976
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/BB593765-FFB5-E72D-FF6C-FB17FB8AF921
treatment provided by	Plazi (2021-02-18 07:13:21, last updated 2024-11-29 10:16:15)
scientific name	Microcosmus helleri Herdman, 1881
status

Treatment

Figure 11C, D View FIGURE 11

Tunic lumpy, tough, tan to light brown in color, usually heavily fouled. Siphons widely separated and directed away from each other; no siphonal spines. Four large oral flaps at base of branchial siphon, six tall branchial folds per side. Liver composed of parallel lamellae with surface papillae.

#1172, attached to Cnemidocarpa irene (specimen #1192). Small; 15 mm tall x 15 mm in width. Gonad in two sections on both sides, crosses gut on left side.

#4654, small, 2 cm in width; body out of tunic 16 mm wide. Small mytilid bivalve embedded in anterior tunic between the siphon bases.

Distribution: Australia, Guam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, E. Africa, Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Brazil.

Detailed references with illustrations: Van Name (1945), Kott (1985), Monniot F. (2018c).Additional references: Monniot C. & Monniot F. (1994), Lambert (2003), Rocha et al. (2012), Lee et al. (2016).

References

Herdman, W. A. (1881) Preliminary report on the Tunicata of the Challenger Expedition. Part III [Styelidae and Pyuridae]. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 11, 52 - 88. https: // doi. org / 10.1017 / S 0370164600046782

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., 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.

Rocha, R. M., Zanata, T. B. & Moreno, T. R. (2012) Keys for the identification of families and genera of Atlantic shallow water ascidians. Biota Neotropica, 12, 1 - 35. https: // doi. org / 10.1590 / S 1676 - 06032012000100022

Van Name, W. G. (1945) The North and South American ascidians. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 84, 1 - 476.

Figures

FIGURE 11. A, B: Microcosmus exasperatus. A: whole animal right side, 1.2 cm in height; B: siphonal spines, largest 44 um long; C: Microcosmus helleri in tunic, 2 cm in width, showing opened edges of embedded bivalve (arrow); D: bivalve removed from host tunic; E: anterior end of small Pyura curvigona (2 cm total length) partially embedded in Polyandrocarpa rollandi colony; F: P. curvigona siphonal spines, longest 211 µm.