Lissoclinum taratara Monniot C. & Monniot F., 1987

Monniot, Françoise & Monniot, Claude, 2001, Ascidians from the tropical western Pacific, Zoosystema 23 (2), pp. 201-383 : 284-285

? Lissoclinum taratara Monniot C. & Monniot F., 1987

( Fig. 122E )

Lissoclinum taratara Monniot C. & Monniot F., 1987: 52 , fig. 18A-E, pl. IVA. Type locality: Polynesia.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Papua New Guinea. Coral Sea, eastern Fields, 10°02.22’S, 145°33.01’E, 12 m, 14. VI.1998 ( MNHN A2 LIS 159).

DESCRIPTION

The colony is very soft, even billowy in life, and of a pale yellow ( Fig. 122E ). The zooids are in small groups separated by a wide common cloacal cavity. The tunic is glassy. The spicules are sparse except around the zooids, where they form capsules. The shape of the spicules, with long point- ed rays of unequal length, is characteristic.

The zooids have a short oral siphon. The lateral thoracic organs are placed above the second transverse vessel. The abdomen is folded under the thorax. There is a single testis follicle and a straight sperm duct. No larvae were present in the colony studied.

REMARKS

The colonies’ fragile consistency and the anatomical characters of the zooids are not sufficient to ascertain the identity of this Lissoclinum species. Here the spicules have a characteristic shape and size, but in the absence of larvae either in the type or here, the identification remains problematic.

Figures

FIG. 122. — A, Diplosoma redika Monniot F., 1994; B, Diplosoma versicolor Monniot F., 1994; C, Lissoclinum abdominale Monniot F., 1983; D, Lissoclinum guinense n. sp.; E, Lissoclinum taratara Monniot C. & Monniot F., 1987; F, Lissoclinum textile n. sp.