Clavelina australis
| Clavelina australis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Colony of Clavelina australis around Victoria, Australia | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Tunicata |
| Class: | Ascidiacea |
| Order: | Aplousobranchia |
| Family: | Clavelinidae |
| Genus: | Clavelina |
| Species: | C. australis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Clavelina australis (Herdman, 1899)
| |
Clavelina australis is a species of colonial ascidian from Australia, in the family Clavelinidae.
History
[edit]The species was first described under the name Stereoclavella australis in 1898 by William Abbott Herdman, although that taxon was considered a nomen nudum.[1] A formal taxonomic description of the species was written by Herdman the next year, alongside a tentatively named Stereoclavella sp. ?australis from Broughton Island. The two descriptions differed in the structure of their dorsal languets, united in the latter by a longitudinal band but directly joined to the horizontal membranes in S. australis.[2]
The original genus Stereoclavella was later synonymized with Clavelina, giving the tunicate its currently accepted binomial name.[1]
Description
[edit]Like most ascidians, Clavelina australis is a sessile, colonial filter-feeder. Colonies are made of a large number of zooids emerging from a solid stalk-like test. They can average 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in width, while individual zooids are much smaller, around 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in length and 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in width.[2]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]C. australis is known from the waters of southeastern Australia. Colonies anchor themselves on rocks and coral reefs in shallow waters, at up to 20 metres (66 ft) of depth.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]Inside the genus Clavelina, the closest relative of C. australis has been found to be C. ossipandae, the skeleton panda sea squirt, following the latter's description in 2024.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "WoRMS – World Register of Marine Species – Stereoclavella australis Herdman, 1898". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ a b Herdman, W. A. (1899). "Descriptive catalogue of the tunicata in the Australian Museum, Sydney, N.S.W.". Austr. Mus. Sydney. 17: 6–8.
- ^ "Port Phillip Bay Taxonomy Toolkit". portphillipmarinelife.net.au. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ Hasegawa, Naohiro; Kajihara, Hiroshi (2024). "Graveyards of Giant Pandas at the Bottom of the Sea? A Strange-Looking New Species of Colonial Ascidians in the Genus Clavelina (Tunicata: Ascidiacea)". Species Diversity: 53–64. doi:10.12782/specdiv.29.53. Retrieved 2024-02-19.