Distaplia bermudensis Van Name, 1902

Monniot, Françoise, 2016, Ascidians (Tunicata) of the French Guiana Expedition, Zootaxa 4114 (3), pp. 201-245 : 216

Distaplia bermudensis Van Name, 1902

Figure.11 .

Stations. SR5; SR8; SR12; SR13; SR14; SR19; SR20; SS2; SS4; SS5; SS10; SS11; SS12; SB2; SB3; SC7; SC9; SD8.

Numerous colonies with varied shapes, in cushions or sheets, were settled on all kinds of substrates, some on ascidians. The tunic is very soft, pale or greyish in formalin but of a bright pink in life. ( Fig. 11 A).The surface tunic is easily torn and often in shreds. The zooids are arranged in stellate systems. The atrial languet is simple or with a dented tip above a wide open siphon. The 4 rows of stigmata are crossed by a parastigmatic vessel. The stomach is round with a smooth wall. A large oocyte is placed against a clump of testis vesicles inside the gut loop. One or 2 larvae are appended in a thoracic pouch. They are 1.2 mm in length with a tail in a half circle ( Fig. 11 B).

This shallow species is widely distributed in Bermuda, Florida, Caribbean islands and Brazil (Rocha et al. 2005) and recently introduced in the Mediterranean ( Mastrototaro and Brunetti 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Distaplia bermudensis. A, deck photo of a live colony; B stained larva, scale bar = 0.5 mm.