Microcosmus exasperatus Heller, 1878

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.4547974
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/BB593765-FFB5-E72D-FF6C-FE77FB08FB62
treatment provided by	Plazi (2021-02-18 07:13:21, last updated 2024-11-29 10:16:15)
scientific name	Microcosmus exasperatus Heller, 1878
status

Treatment

Figure 11A, B View FIGURE 11

Individuals may reach 5 cm across, usually somewhat wider than tall, with a thick ridge of tunic between the widely spaced siphons especially when contracted. Siphonal spines small, dense, curved and sharply pointed, usually up to about 30 µm in length but may be slightly longer in large specimens. Tunic lining purple, siphonal lining red striped and mottled. Dorsal tubercle inrolled. Gonad in three parts on each side, left gonad crosses gut.

#0154A, nine branchial folds per side. One gammarid amphipod in branchial sac.

#3799C, juvenile 1.7 cm long. Creamy white tunic with red striping; resembles Polycarpa papillata externally. Oral siphon terminal, atrial siphon far back; siphons with red striping. Gonads not well developed but in the typical three parts.

#3827D, one small, on Polycarpa argentata .

#4614, small; 1.2 cm anteroposteriorly. Siphonal spines up to 44 µm long including embedded basal part. Eight branchial folds on the right side, seven on the left.

Distribution: China, Formosa, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, Hawaii, Guam, Fiji, Truk, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Galápagos, E. and W. Africa, Suez and eastern Mediterranean, SE. U.S., Caribbean, Martinique, Brazil.

Detailed references: Van Name (1918 as Pyura exasperatus ; 1945); Millar (1975), Kott (1981, 1985); Monniot C. & Monniot F. (1987), Cole & Vorontsova (1998), Monniot C. (2002), Monniot F. (2010, 2018c), Lee et al. (2013). Other references: Millar (1965), Monniot C. (1983c), Nishikawa (1984), Monniot C. et al. (1985), Millar (1988), Monniot C. & Monniot F. (1994), Zheng (1995), Abbott et al. (1997), Rocha & Nasser (1998), Rocha & Costa (2005), Rocha et al. (2005), Shenkar & Loya (2009), Lee et al. (2016), Lambert (2003, 2019).

References

Abbott, D. P., Newberry, A. T. & Morris, K. M. (1997) Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii. 6 B: Ascidians (Urochordata). Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 64 pp.

Cole, L. & Vorontsova, M. (1998) Species of Pyuridae (Ascidiacea) from South Vietnam. Bulletin of Marine Science, 62, 1 - 6.

Heller, C. (1878) Beitrage zur nahern Kenntniss der Tunicaten. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, 77 (1), 83 - 110.

Kott, P. (1981) The ascidians of the reef flats of Fiji. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 105, 147 - 212.

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.

Lambert, G. (2019) Fouling ascidians (Chordata: Ascidiacea) of the Galapagos: Santa Cruz and Baltra Islands. Aquatic Invasions, 14, 132 - 149. https: // doi. org / 10.3391 / ai. 2019.14.1.05

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.

Millar, R. H. (1965) Ascidians from the tropical coast of west Africa. Scientific Results of the Danish Expedition to the coasts of tropical west Africa 1945 - 1946. Atlantide Report, 8, 247 - 255.

Millar, R. H. (1975) Ascidians from the Indo-West-Pacific region in the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen (Tunicata, Ascidiacea). Steenstrupia, 3, 205 - 336.

Millar, R. H. (1988) Ascidians collected during the International Indian Ocean Expedition. Journal of Natural History, 22, 823 - 848. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222938800770541

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.

Rocha, R. M. & Nasser, C. M. (1998) Some ascidians (Tunicata, Ascidiacea) from Parana State, southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 15, 633 - 642. https: // doi. org / 10.1590 / S 0101 - 81751998000300009

Rocha, R. M. & Costa, L. V. G. (2005) Ascidians (Urochordata: Ascidiacea) from Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Iheringia, Serie Zoologia, 95, 57 - 64. https: // doi. org / 10.1590 / S 0073 - 47212005000100009

Shenkar, N. & Loya, Y. (2009) Non-indigenous ascidians (Chordata: Tunicata) along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Marine Biodiversity Records, 2, 1 - 7. https: // doi. org / 10.1017 / S 1755267209990753

Van Name, W. G. (1918) Ascidians from the Philippines and adjacent waters. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 100, 49 - 174.

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

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.