| 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.
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]
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]
Clavelina 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]
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]
A tunicate is an exclusively marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata. This grouping is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords. The subphylum was at one time called Urochordata, and the term urochordates is still sometimes used for these animals.
Thaliacea is a class of marine chordates within the subphylum Tunicata, comprising the salps, pyrosomes and doliolids. Unlike their benthic relatives the ascidians, from which they are believed to have emerged, thaliaceans are free-floating (pelagic) for their entire lifespan. The group includes species with complex life cycles, with both solitary and colonial forms.
Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts, is a paraphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" made of a polysaccharide.
Pyura is a large genus of sessile ascidians that live in coastal waters at depths of up to 80 m (260 feet). Like all ascidians, Pyura are filter feeders. A few species, including Pyura chilensis are commercially fished.
Pyrosomes are free-floating colonial tunicates in family Pyrosomatidae. There are three genera, Pyrosoma, Pyrosomella and Pyrostremma, and eight species. They usually live in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas, although some may be found at greater depths.
Clavelinidae is a family of tunicates in the order Aplousobranchia.
Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial ascidian tunicate. It is commonly known as the star tunicate, but it also has several other common names, including star ascidian and golden star tunicate. Colonies grow on slow-moving, submerged objects, plants, and animals in nearshore saltwater environments.
Clavelina is genus of sea squirts, containing the following species:
Clavelina moluccensis, common name bluebell tunicate, blue bell tunicate, or blue sea squirt is a species of tunicate, in the genus Clavelina. Like all ascidians, these sessile animals are filter feeders.
Clavelina picta, common name the painted tunicate, is a species of tunicate, in the genus Clavelina. These animals, like all ascidians, are sessile filter feeders.
Clavelina robusta is a species of tunicate, in the genus Clavelina. Like all ascidians, these sessile animals are filter feeders.
Pycnoclavella diminuta, known as the white-spotted sea squirt, white-spot ascidian, and white-spotted ascidian, is a species of tunicate, in the genus Pycnoclavella. Like all ascidians, these sessile animals are filter feeders.
Pyrosoma atlanticum is a pelagic species of marine colonial tunicate in the class Thaliacea found in temperate waters worldwide. The name of the genus comes from the Greek words pyros meaning 'fire' and soma meaning 'body', referring to the bright bioluminescence sometimes emitted. The specific epithet atlanticum refers to the Atlantic Ocean, from where the first specimen of the species was collected for scientific description; it was described in 1804 by François Péron, a French naturalist.
Ecteinascidia turbinata, commonly known as the mangrove tunicate, is a species of tunicate in the family Perophoridae. It was described to science in 1880 by William Abbott Herdman. The cancer drug trabectedin can be isolated from this species.
Didemnum molle is a species of colonial tunicate in the family Didemnidae. It is commonly known as the tall urn ascidian, the green barrel sea squirt or the green reef sea-squirt. It is native to the Red Sea and the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region.
Polyandrocarpa is a genus of ascidian tunicates within the family Styelidae.
Aplidium elegans, the sea-strawberry, is a species of colonial sea squirt, a benthic tunicate in the family Polyclinidae and class Ascidiacea. It is native to shallow waters in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It is also found in between France and the United Kingdom.
Perophora listeri is a species of colonial sea squirt in the genus Perophora, native to the North Atlantic.
Sycozoa pulchra, is a sea squirt in the family Holozoidae, first described by William Abbott Herdman in 1886 as Colella pulchra. The taxonomic decision which determined the name, Sycozoa pulchra, and the species' synonymy was given by Patricia Kott in 1990.
Clavelina ossipandae, the skeleton panda sea squirt or skeleton panda ascidian, is a species of colonial ascidian, a group of sessile, marine filter-feeding invertebrates. Originally discovered near Kume Island in Japan by local divers, pictures of the animal attracted attention in the media for its appearance prior to its formal taxonomic description in 2024.