Asajirus ovirarus (Monniot C. & Monniot F.,1990)

Monniot, Francoise, 2021, New records of deep-sea ascidians (Tunicata, Ascidiacea) from the New Caledonia region, Zootaxa 4996 (3), pp. 443-468 : 466-467

Asajirus ovirarus (Monniot C. & Monniot F.,1990)

Figure 22

Station: Kanadeep CP 5071. One specimen.

Hexacrobylus ovirarus Monniot C. & Monniot F., 1990 . Hair-like filaments and sand cover the tunic 1.5 cm long ( Fig. 22A ). The oral aperture has 8 stout pinnate lobes of equal size. The atrial siphon was not seen. The body wall is thin and transparent ( Fig. 22B ) with the musculature restricted to a large oral sphincter and some transverse muscles fibres on the dorsal body side. The pharynx is very contracted and narrows to form a cylindrical oesophagus. The stomach occupies most of the body, filled by a variety of invertebrate debris mostly crustaceans which have torn its posterior wall. The intestine forms a loop in which is located a round renal vesicle ( Fig. 22B ). There is one gonad on each side of the oesophagus in the atrial cavity ( Fig. 22C, D ): testis and ovary form a round mass. The gonoducts were not seen.

Asajirus ovirarus is recorded in New Caledonia for the second time but deeper.

Figures

FIGURE 22. Asajirus ovirarus. A, whole specimen; B, specimen without tunic; scale bars = 1 cm; C, D, gonads.