Cnemidocarpa irene ( Hartmeyer 1906 )

Monniot, Francoise, 2021, New records of deep-sea ascidians (Tunicata, Ascidiacea) from the New Caledonia region, Zootaxa 4996 (3), pp. 443-468 : 452-453

Cnemidocarpa irene ( Hartmeyer 1906)

Figure 10

Station: Kanacono DW 4777. Seven specimens.

Styela irene Hartmeyer 1906:7 Fig. 4

Cnemidocarpa irene: Nishikawa 1991 and synonymy; Monniot & Monniot 2003.

Common in the Caledonian basin this species has a mammillate smooth tunic with some epibionts ( Fig. 10A ). The siphons are separated by one third of the body width and not protruding. Thirty oral tentacles are evenly spaced. The dorsal tubercle C-shaped lies in a low V of the prepharyngeal band. The dorsal lamina is a low blade. The branchial sac has four folds on each side ( Fig. 10B, C ) each with an average of 20 longitudinal vessels plus up to 20 vessels separate the folds. There are parastigmatic vessels and an average of two stigmata per branchial mesh. The digestive loop is narrowly open; it occupies only a posterior part of the left body side ( Fig. 10D ). The olive-shaped stomach has internal ridges and no caecum; the anus margin has numerous lobes. There are two long gonads on each side ( Fig. 10D ) those on the right side are well distant from each other; on the left side the gonads are parallel and above the intestine. Fifty endocarps are present on the right side and on the left some endocarps lie below the stomach, others inside the gut loop and on each side of the gonads. Neither velum nor atrial tentacles were seen.

Cnemidocarpa irene has a worldwide distribution from shallow to bathyal depth.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Cnemidocarpa irene. A, three specimens; B, branchial tissue; D, body wall, gut and gonads. Scale bars = 1cm.

FIGURE. 4. Protoholozoa incrustans sp. nov. colony, scale bar = 1cm.