Ecteinascidia diaphanis Sluiter, 1885

KOTT, PATRICIA, 2003, New syntheses and new species in the Australian Ascidiacea, Journal of Natural History 37 (13), pp. 1611-1653 : 1635

Ecteinascidia diaphanis Sluiter, 1885

(figure 5A, B)

Ecteinascidia diaphanis Sluiter, 1885: 168 . Kott, 1985: 90 and synonymy.

Ecteinascidia ndouae Monniot, C., 1991a: 505 .

Distribution. New South Wales (Solitary Is), Queensland (Great Barrier Reef), Arafura Sea, Indonesia, western Pacific ( Palau Is, New Caledonia).

Description. Re-examination of specimens recorded by Kott (1985) has shown her description of the dorsal lamina to be incorrect. Laterally (not antero-posteriorly) flattened pointed languets are along the edge of a thin but wide dorsal membrane with a conspicuous rounded rib extending down each side of the membrane and along the transverse vessel on each side. The number of rows of stigmata in one small clump of zooids was found to vary from 16 to 20. The curvature of the gut loop is affected by muscle contraction as in most species of this genus. Four spiral ridges are around the long stomach rather than the five Kott (1985) recorded in error. The ovary is in the centre of a circle of lobed testis follicles.

Remarks. Ecteinascidia ndouae Monniot, C., 1991 is said to differ from the present species in its fewer rows of stigmata (13), and more curved gut loop. The latter is variable in this and other species (see E. sluiteri ). The number of rows of stigmata increases from about 10 in the larvae to 20 (the maximum recorded). The musculature, dorsal lamina, long stomach with spiral grooves gut, gonads and colony are all similar. The species must be regarded as synonyms.