Ascidians from the tropical western Pacific
Author
Monniot, Françoise
Author
Monniot, Claude
UPESA 8044, Laboratoire de Biologie des Invertébrés marins et Malacologie, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 55 rue Buffon, F- 75005 Paris (France) monniot @ mnhn. fr.
monniot@mnhn.fr
text
Zoosystema
2001
23
2
201
383
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.5391440
1638-9387
5391440
Polycarpa camptos
n. sp.
(
Figs 91
;
128B
)
TYPE
MATERIAL
. —
Papua New Guinea
.
Louisiade Archipelago, Deboyne Lagoon, Nivani Island,
10°47.46’S
,
152°23.08’E
,
12 m
,
30.
V
.1998
(
MNHN
S1
POL
.B 422).
ETYMOLOGY. — From the Greek
camptos
: flexible.
DESCRIPTION
The specimen is 8 ×
4 cm
, erect, with a creamcoloured, wrinkled tunic (
Fig. 128B
covered by a black didemnid). In formalin the tunic turns light brown and the siphons a darker brown. The tunic is soft and flexible (hence the species name) and generally without epibionts. The siphons are close together.
The body wall is brown and thin. There are no vesicles in the thickness of the body wall. There are a dozen oral tentacles of irregular length. The prepharyngeal band is deeply indented dorsally, but not prolonged in a groove (
Fig. 91A
). The dorsal tubercle is small with a S-shaped aperture. The dorsal lamina begins at the point of the dorsal V, and its height increases gradually down to the oesophagus. At this level it is abruptly cut. The first branchial fold on the right side is doubled. The formula on the right side is:
R.E.?
8
5
10
7
13
8
17
1 + 4 D.L.
In the space between the first fold and the dorsal lamina, four longitudinal vessels are grouped in a pseudo-fold. The folds are high but do not overlap each other. On the right side we count- ed about 30 stigmata between the dorsal lamina and the first vessel, but only 15 on the left side.
The digestive tract forms an open loop (
Fig. 91A
). The oesophagus is short and narrow. The stomach is spherical with numerous thin folds. There is no caecum. The rectum is attached to the body wall only along the dorsal lamina. The anus has two dentate lobes.
There is only one large endocarp, located inside the gut loop, which links the intestine to the stomach.
The gonads are very numerous on the both sides of the body (
Fig. 91A
) with about 130 polycarps on the right side and 74 on the left side. There are no polycarps on the posterior part of the body wall below the stomach and the gut loop. Each polycarp is round (
Fig. 91B
), not protruding but rather includ- ed in the transparent body wall. The testis lobes are internal to the ovary. The gonoducts are short. We have not seen cloacal tentacles.
REMARKS
This species differs from many
Polycarpa
in its elongate and erect shape and the very numerous and flat, round polycarps with short ducts, and in consistency of its tunic.
Polycarpa captiosa
(
Sluiter, 1885
)
(
Figs 92
;
128C
)
Styela captiosa
Sluiter, 1885: 202
, pl. 9, figs 4-7.
Type
locality:
Indonesia
.
Polycarpa captiosa
– Monniot F. & Monniot C. 1996; 249, fig. 53, pl. 9A,
Palau
, and synonymy.
MATERIAL EXAMINED
. —
Philippines
.
Mindanao,
Davao
, N side Talikud Island, Angel Cove,
6°57.59’N
,
125°40.76’E
,
27.III.1996
(
MNHN
S1
POL
.B 362). — NE Panay Island, Bayas Island off coast of Estancia town,
11°26.50’N
,
123°12.00’E
,
28.IV.1995
(
MNHN
S1
POL
.B 340). — SW
Bohol
, Planglao Island,
9°32.27’N
,
123°43.54’E
,
12 m
,
21.IV.1997
(
MNHN
S1
POL
.B 377).
DESCRIPTION
The different specimens are from
8 to 12 cm
long. They are erect with the siphons at 45°. The tunic is tough, tuberculated, and covered with varied epibionts. The siphons have a red tint (
Fig. 128C
). The internal characteristics are the same as described in Monniot F. & Monniot C. (1996). The dorsal tubercle has numerous irregular openings. The polycarps are oval, protruding, and arranged in an irregular line on each side of the body (
Fig. 92
). The gut forms a double loop (
Fig. 92
), very loosely attached to the body wall when it is not eviscerated.
REMARKS
This species differs from
Polycarpa papillata
(
Sluiter, 1885
)
and
Polycarpa reviviscens
n. sp.
in the arrangement of gonads and the multiple openings of the dorsal tubercle.
The distribution covers a large part of the tropical western Pacific Ocean.
Polycarpa cryptocarpa
(
Sluiter, 1885
)
(
Figs 93
;
128D
)
Styela cryptocarpa
Sluiter, 1885: 210
.
Type
locality: Billiton Island. Synonymy: see Monniot C. 1987b: 281, fig. 2. — Monniot F. & Monniot C. 1996: 251, pl. 9C. MATERIAL EXAMINED. —
Maldives
.
N
Male
Atoll, Feydhoo Findhu Island,
4°12.94’N
,
73°29.04’E
,
2 m
,
23.IX.1997
(MNHN S1 POL.B 390). — S
Male
Atoll, oceanside North reef,
4°07.54’N
,
73°30.55’E
,
10 m
,
24.IX.1997
(MNHN S1 POL.B 389).
Tonga
.
Vava’u
, Hunga Island Lagoon,
18°42.25’S
,
174°07.72’W
,
2 m
,
9.XI.1997
(
MNHN
S1
POL
.B 388).
DESCRIPTION
The newly collected specimens allow us to complement the description given by Monniot C. (1987b) for New Caledonian specimens. The colour of the tunic in life is rather variable, and the internal side of the siphons is either completely white (
Fig. 128D
) or spotted with white. The oral tentacles are of two or three orders of size. The dorsal tubercle is protruding, occupying the total space between the dorsal
V
and the tentacle ring. Its openings are multiple, curved, or merely in a C (
Fig. 93B, D
).
FIG. 92. —
Polycarpa captiosa
(
Sluiter, 1885
)
. Scale bar: 1 cm.
The gut forms a closed loop (
Fig. 93A, C
). The secondary curve is always present. The stomach is only slightly enlarged. The anus has a rolled edge with numerous lobes (
Fig. 93A, C
). There are two or three large endocarps in the intestinal loop (
Fig. 93A, C
). The polycarps are numerous on each side, covering the whole internal side of the body wall (
Fig. 93A, C
). They are round, included in the thickness of the body wall and have protruding gonoducts. There are no endocarps between them. There is a ring of small cloacal tentacles.
FIG. 93. —
Polycarpa cryptocarpa
(
Sluiter, 1885
)
;
A
,
B
, specimen from Tonga;
C
,
D
, specimen from Maldives. Scale bars: A, 1 cm; B, D, 2 mm; C, 5 mm.
REMARKS
The distribution of this species is very wide in the whole western Pacific Ocean and the tropical Indian Ocean.