Leptoclinum patulum Herdman 1899 , p 448

Kott, Patricia, 2005, New and little-known species of Didemnidae (Ascidiacea, Tunicata) from Australia (Part 3), Journal of Natural History 39 (26), pp. 2409-2479 : 2450

Leptoclinum patulum Herdman 1899, p 448 .

Didemnum patulum: Kott 2001, p 219 and synonymy; 2004a, p 756.

Distribution

Previously recorded (see Kott 2001, 2004a): Tasmania (Triabunna); Victoria (Bass Strait, Western Port, Cape Woolamai); New South Wales (Port Jackson). New record: New South Wales (Jervis Bay, QM G301591).

Description

The newly recorded, slightly translucent, fleshy colony is encrusting a worm tube. Spicules are present in moderate concentrations in the upper part of the colony and are never crowded. They become sparse toward the base of the colony beneath the shallow, thoracic, common cloacal canals. The spicules are stellate, to 0.05 mm diameter and have 9–11 conical pointed rays in optical transverse section.

Remarks

Despite the general similarity of the spicules to those of D. patulum , they are smaller than has been previously recorded for this species; and this, with the absence of the characteristic circular surface depressions over the common cloacal canals, raises doubts about the species’ identity. It is only questionably assigned to D. patulum .