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.
Heterobranchia, the heterobranchs, is a taxonomic clade of snails and slugs, which includes marine, aquatic and terrestrial gastropod mollusks.
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are very similar in appearance to the point that the boundaries between them are often unclear. Terms sometimes used synonymously but with more precise meanings are: cryptic species for two or more species hidden under one species name, sibling species for two cryptic species that are each other's closest relative, and species flock for a group of closely related species living in the same habitat. As informal taxonomic ranks, species group, species aggregate, and superspecies are also in use.
Hermissenda crassicornis is a species of brightly coloured, sea slug or nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.
The Gobiiformes are an order of fish that includes the gobies. The order, which was previously considered a suborder of Perciformes, is made up of 2,211 species that are divided into seven different families. Phylogenetic relationships of the Gobiiformes have been elucidated using molecular data. Gobiiforms are generally small fish and are mostly marine (saltwater) fishes, but roughly 10% of the population inhabit fresh waters. This order is made up of mainly benthic or sand-burrowing fish. Benthic fish live on the bottom of a body of water. Like in most benthic organisms, gobiiforms do not have a gas bladder or swim bladder which keeps them from suspending in the water column, so they must stay on the bottom.
Ascobulla fragilis is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod sacoglossan mollusk in the family Volvatellidae.
Clavus hewittae is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Drilliidae.
Aiteng ater is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Aitengidae. The specific name ater is from the Latin language and means black, in reference to the appearance of the slug on the mud.
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.
Chelidonura sandrana is a species of sea slug, or "headshield slug", a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aglajidae.
Nembrotha aurea is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae. It was first described in 2008.
Pyura pachydermatina is a sea tulip, a solitary species of tunicate in the suborder Stolidobranchia. It is native to shallow waters around New Zealand.
Pyura herdmani, one of two southern African species of "red bait", is a sessile ascidian, or sea squirt, that lives in coastal waters attached to rocks or artificial structures. Sea squirts are named for their habit of squirting a stream of water from their exhalant siphons when touched at low tide.
The Anatolian crested newt is a newt species endemic to northern Anatolia in Turkey. Before its description in 2016, it was first considered to belong to the southern crested newt and then the Balkan crested newt. The three species form a complex of morphologically indistinguishable cryptic species. Genetic data demonstrated the Anatolian crested newt to be distinct from the other two species, although it hybridises with the Balkan crested newt at its western range end.
Coscinasterias muricata is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is a large 11-armed starfish and occurs in shallow waters in the temperate western Indo-Pacific region.
