List of tunicates of Ireland

Last updated

Internal anatomy of a generalised tunicate Uroc005b.png
Internal anatomy of a generalised tunicate
Polycarpa pomaria Polycarpa pomaria B151956.jpg
Polycarpa pomaria
Styela clava Styela clava.JPG
Styela clava
Molgula oculata Molgula oculata 001.png
Molgula oculata

There are 81 species of tunicate (subphylum Tunicata) recorded in Ireland. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Class Ascidiacea (sea squirts)

Order Aplousobranchia

Family Clavelinidae

Clavelina lepadiformis (light-bulb sea squirt) colony Clavelina lepadiformis 02.jpg
Clavelina lepadiformis (light-bulb sea squirt) colony

Family Didemnidae

Didemnum vexillum colony Tunicate colony of Didemnum vexillum overgrowing gravel.JPG
Didemnum vexillum colony

Family Holozoidae

Family Polycitoridae

Family Polyclinidae

Morchellium argus (red-flake ascidian) BritishTunicataPlate54.jpg
Morchellium argus (red-flake ascidian)
Polyclinum aurantium Polyclinum aurantium.jpg
Polyclinum aurantium

Family Pycnoclavellidae

Order Phlebobranchia

Family Ascidiidae

Phallusia mammillata Phallusia mammillata.jpg
Phallusia mammillata
Ascidia mentula Ascidia mentula.jpg
Ascidia mentula

Family Cionidae

Family Corellidae

Family Diazonidae

Diazona violacea Diazona-violacea.jpg
Diazona violacea

Family Perophoridae

Order Pleurogona

Family Styelidae

Dendrodoa grossularia Dendrodoa grossularia B155581.jpg
Dendrodoa grossularia

Order Stolidobranchia

Family Molgulidae (sea grapes)

Family Pyuridae

Pelagic tunicates (free-swimming)

Class Appendicularia (larvaceans)

Order Copelata

Family Oikopleuridae

5 species

Family Fritillariidae

4 species

Class Thaliacea (pelagic tunicates)

Order Doliolida

Family Doliolidae

3 species

Order Salpida (salps)

Family Salpidae (salps)

7 species

Order Pyrosomida (pyrosomes)

Family Pyrosomatidae (pyrosomes)

1 species

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunicate</span> Marine animals, subphylum of chordates

A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata. It 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. They are the only chordates that have lost their myomeric segmentation, with the possible exception of the 'seriation of the gill slits'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ascidiacea</span> Group of non-vertebrate marine filter feeders comprising sea squirts

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.

<i>Pyura</i> Genus of sea squirts

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.

<i>Styela clava</i> Species of sea squirt

Styela clava is a solitary, subtidal ascidian tunicate. It has a variety of common names such as the stalked sea squirt, clubbed tunicate, Asian tunicate, leathery sea squirt, or rough sea squirt. As its common names suggest, S. clava is club-shaped with an elongated oval body and a long peduncle for attaching to a substrate. Although native to the northwestern waters of the Pacific Ocean, since the 1900s, S. clava has become an increasingly successful invasive species outside of its native range. It is edible.

<i>Corella willmeriana</i> Species of sea squirt

Corella willmeriana is a solitary tunicate in the family Corellidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean where it lives on the seabed at depths down to about 75 m (250 ft) between Alaska and California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stolidobranchia</span> Order of sea squirts

Stolidobranchia is an order of tunicates in the class Ascidiacea. The group includes both colonial and solitary animals. They are distinguished from other tunicates by the presence of folded pharyngeal baskets. This provides the etymology of their name: in ancient Greek, στολίς, ίδος means the "fold" of a cloth. Stolidobranchian sea squirts are also characterized by the complete absence of an abdomen. The abdominal organs of other tunicates are instead located to one side of the pharyngeal basket in this group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aplousobranchia</span> Suborder of marine animals in the tunicates subphylum

Aplousobranchia is an order of sea squirts in the class Ascidiacea, first described by Fernando Lahille in 1886. They are colonial animals, and are distinguished from other sea squirts by the presence of relatively simple pharyngeal baskets. This provides the etymology of their name: in ancient greek, ἁ.πλοος-ους (ha.ploos-ous) means "simple". The posterior part of the abdomen contains the heart and gonads, and is typically larger than in other sea squirts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquatic invasive species in Canada</span>

Canadian aquatic invasive species are all forms of life that traditionally has not been native to Canada's waterways. In Eastern Canada, non-native plant and animal species are a concern to biologists. Bringing non-native species such as invasive fishes into Canada can damage the environment and ecosystem by repressing native species due to food competition or preying. Invasive fishes enter the fresh waters of Canada in several ways including drifting, deliberate introduction, accidental release, experimental purposes and, most commonly, through the attachment on international boat hulls. Invasive species are the second biggest threat to fish and other marine life in Canada behind loss of habitat and degradation. The threat to native species is primarily caused by impacts on the food web; however, invasive species also bring dangerous pathogens and physically interfere with existing aquatic life. Invasive species include sea lampreys, zebra mussels, smallmouth bass, European green crab, vase tunicate, and sea squirts.

<i>Pycnoclavella diminuta</i> Species of sea squirt

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.

<i>Styela montereyensis</i> Species of tunicate

Styela montereyensis, also called the stalked tunicate, Monterey stalked tunicate, and the long-stalked sea squirt is a solitary ascidian tunicate. It has a cylindrical, yellow to dark reddish-brown body and a thin trunk that anchors it to rocks. It is found in subtidal areas of the western coast of North America from Vancouver Island to Baja California.

<i>Ascidiella aspersa</i> Species of sea squirt

Ascidiella aspersa, the European sea squirt, is a species of solitary sea squirts native to the northeastern Atlantic, from the Mediterranean Sea to Norway. They possess oval bodies up to 50 to 130 mm in length. Their branchial siphons are conical and positioned at the top of the body. They possess six to eight lobes. The atrial siphons are located at the upper third of the side of the body and possess six lobes. The body is covered by a firm transparent test that is greyish to brown in color. The test often snag detritus that remain loosely attached to the animal. When expanded, at most 40 tentacles can be observed on the inside surface of the branchial wall. Both the openings of the branchial and atrial siphons possess lighter colored ridges on their rims. They may also be frilled at times. A. aspersa are attached to the substrates by the left side of their bodies. They can be found in dense groups of unfused individuals on hard surfaces like rocks. at depths of up to 90 m (300 ft).

<i>Pyura chilensis</i> Species of sea squirt

Pyura chilensis, called piure in Spanish, is a tunicate of the family Pyuridae. It was described in 1782 by Juan Ignacio Molina.

<i>Didemnum vexillum</i> Species of sea squirt

Didemnum vexillum is a species of colonial tunicate in the family Didemnidae. It is commonly called sea vomit, marine vomit, pancake batter tunicate, or carpet sea squirt. It is thought to be native to Japan, but it has been reported as an invasive species in a number of places in Europe, North America and New Zealand. It is sometimes given the nickname "D. vex" because of the vexing way in which it dominates marine ecosystems when introduced into new locations, however the species epithet vexillum actually derives from the Latin word for flag, and the species was so named because of the way colonies' long tendrils appear to wave in the water like a flag.

<i>Pyura pachydermatina</i> Species of sea squirt

Pyura pachydermatina is a sea tulip, a solitary species of tunicate in the suborder Stolidobranchia. It is native to shallow waters around New Zealand.

<i>Pyura dalbyi</i> Species of sea squirt

Pyura dalbyi, the yellow cunjevoi, is a species of large, solitary ascidians, or sea squirts.

Polycarpa fibrosa is a species of tunicate in the family Styelidae. It is brown and globular and its outer surface is covered with a mat of fibrils. It normally lies buried in soft sediment on the seabed with only its two siphons protruding. It occurs in the Arctic Ocean and northern Atlantic Ocean. P. fibrosa was first identified and described by the American malacologist William Stimpson in 1852.

<i>Polycarpa pomaria</i> Species of sea squirt

Polycarpa pomaria is a species of tunicate or sea squirt in the family Styelidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean where it lives on the seabed at depths down to about 450 metres (1,500 ft).

Synoicum pulmonaria, the tennis ball ascidian or sea-fig, is a species of colonial sea squirt, a tunicate in the family Polyclinidae. It occurs in shallow water in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the English Channel, and also, to a lesser extent, in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Molgula manhattensis</i> Species of sea squirt

Molgula manhattensis, commonly known as "sea grapes", is a species of ascidian commonly found along the East Coast and Gulf Coast region of the United States. Although it is native to this region, it has been introduced to other areas of Europe, Australia, and the West Coast.

<i>Tunicotheres</i> Genus of crabs

Tunicotheres is a monotypic genus of crabs in the family Pinnotheridae, and Tunicotheres moseri is the only species in the genus. This crab lives commensally in the atrial chamber of a small ascidian. It is found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

References

  1. "Species Browser".
  2. "Tunicates: Britain / Ireland".
  3. "Tunicates - Urochordata - Overview - Encyclopedia of Life". Encyclopedia of Life.
  4. "Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland".
  5. Farran, G. P.; Southern, R. (1911). "Part 21. Tunicata and Hemichorda". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 31: 21.1–21.4. JSTOR   20520562.
  6. Thompson, William (1844). "Report on the Fauna of Ireland, Div. Invertebrata".
  7. "Carpet sea squirt 'found in lough'". Belfasttelegraph.

Identification