Hartmeyeria formosa Herdman, 1882

Kott, Patricia, 2006, Observations on non-didemnid ascidians from Australian waters (1), Journal of Natural History 40 (3 - 4), pp. 169-234 : 225

Hartmeyeria formosa Herdman, 1882

Cynthia formosa Herdman 1882, p 139 .

Hartmeyeria formosa: Kott 1985, p 363 and synonymy.

Distribution

Previously recorded (see Kott 1985): Victoria (Bass Strait, Port Phillip Bay ); New South Wales ( Port Jackson ); Queensland ( Moreton Bay , Gladstone , Abbot Point , Townsville , Mossman ); Torres Strait. New record: Queensland (15.245 ° S, 145.375 ° E, 23 m; 16.705 ° S, 146.125 ° E, 34 m; 18.94 ° S, 146.365 ° E, 8 m) .

Remarks

The newly recorded specimens are within the geographic range previously recorded for this species from Torres Strait in the north to Bass Strait in the south along the eastern coast. They are small and only one has been taken from each location. As previously reported, the specimens are top-shaped with the test produced into branched papillae that are longer anteriorly, sometimes forming a ring of bristles around each aperture. The six wide branchial folds on each side and the long, flat dorsal lamina with a fringe of papillae on the edge are as previously described (see Kott 1985).

Hartmeyeria psammiferus (Monniot et al., 2001) , as Microcosmus psammiferus in Monniot et al. 2001, from South Africa, has gut loop and gonads arranged as in the present species. The spines in the outer part of the siphons also may be similar to those of the present species, although this is difficult to determine as their bases cannot be seen in the scanning electron micrographs (which obscure the base of the spines) of Monniot et al. (2001, Figure 51B, C: Microcosmus psammophorus sic!). However the urn-shaped spicules at the base of the siphons have not been detected in H. formosa . Further, the dorsal lamina of the latter species is fringed with tongue-shaped lobes that are not present in the South African species (which has irregular indentations) and the species appear to be distinct. Nevertheless, they appear to be congeneric. In both species, as in others in this genus, the branchial sac has six folds on each side and the second most dorsal folds on each side are significantly narrower than the others. Monniot et al. (2001) appear to have overlooked the fact that H. formosa has a stalk when suggesting that the absence of a stalk separated it from the genus Hartmeyeria . The absence of a stalk from H. psammiferus (which has all the other generic characters of the genus and is similar to H. formosa in so many characters) suggests that the presence or absence of a stalk may not always be significant at the generic level.