Styela montereyensis

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Styela montereyensis
Styela montereyensis in california tide pools.jpg
Styela montereyensis in a California tide pool
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Tunicata
Class: Ascidiacea
Order: Stolidobranchia
Family: Styelidae
Genus: Styela
Species:
S. montereyensis
Binomial name
Styela montereyensis
(Dall, 1872) [1]
Synonyms

Clavelinopsis rubra Fewkes, 1889
Cynthia montereyensisDall, 1872
Styela rubra(Fewkes, 1889)
Tethyum montereyense(Dall, 1872)
Tethyum montereyensis

Contents

Styela montereyensis, also called the stalked tunicate, Monterey stalked tunicate, and the long-stalked sea squirt [2] is a solitary [3] ascidian tunicate. [1] 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.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by American malacologist William Healey Dall in 1871 as Cynthia montereyensis, and later (1889) by Jesse Walter Fewkes as Clavelinopsis rubra. William E. Ritter placed it in Styela in 1893. [4]

Description

Styela montereyensis is yellow to dark red brown in colour. It is a solitary species, growing, often in loose groups. [3] It normally grows to about 8–15 cm (3–6 in) in exposed sites. However, in the more rare, calm habitats, it can grow up to about 25 cm (10 in). The body of Styela montereyensis is elongate and cylindrical, and is attached to a thinner stalk approximately the same length as the body. Its siphons are close together at the distal end, with its oral siphon pointing to the side or downward. The atrial siphon points straight upward. It has a leathery tunic displaying noticeable longitudinal grooves and ridges that extend down the entire length of the body. [3]

This species is commonly fouled with foreign matter and small organisms such as algae and hydroids [3] when occurring in harbors, but remains clean in wave-swept habitats. The feeding mechanism of S. montereyensis uses the force generated from underwater current to push water through a feeding apparatus. The flexible stem allows the organism to have its position adjusted passively and the orientation of the siphons optimized by the current, and so foraging is a relatively low-energy activity. [5] Their maximum lifespan is not known with certainty, but one individual was known to have lived for three years and attained a length of 23 cm (9.1 in). [6]

Distribution

This species occurs from Vancouver Island and Hope Island south to Baja, California. [6]

Habitat

Styela montereyensis lives in the low intertidal zone up to approximately 30 m (100 ft) in depth. It is a fairly common species within its range, and can be found firmly attached to substrata, pilings, jetties, and on subtidal reefs [3] in waters ranging from calm to extremely rough. [6]

Specimens in the Pacific Northwest rarely occur in inland waters, but are normally found in the outer straits and open coast. [2] Populations on the west coasts of Vancouver Island and Washington harbour the crustacean copepod species Pygodelphys aquilonaris in their branchial sacs. [6]

Related Research Articles

Tunicate 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'.

Larvacea Class of marine animals in the subphylum Tunicata

Larvaceans, Class Appendicularia are solitary, free-swimming tunicates found throughout the world's oceans. Like most tunicates, larvaceans are filter feeders. Unlike most other tunicates, they live in the pelagic zone, specifically in the photic zone, or sometimes deeper. They are transparent planktonic animals, generally less than 1 cm (0.39 in) in body length, excluding the tail.

Ascidiacea Group of non-vertebrate marine filter feeders comprising sea squirts

Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates, and sea squirts, is a polyphyletic 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>Ciona intestinalis</i> Species of ascidian

Ciona intestinalis is an ascidian, a tunicate with very soft tunic. Its Latin name means, literally, "pillar of intestines", referring to the fact that its body is a soft, translucent column-like structure, resembling a mass of intestines sprouting from a rock. It is a globally distributed cosmopolitan species. Since Linnaeus described the species, Ciona intestinalis has been used as a model invertebrate chordate in developmental biology and genomics. Studies conducted between 2005 and 2010 have shown that there are at least two, possibly four, sister species. More recently it has been shown that one of these species has already been described as Ciona robusta. By anthropogenic means, the species has invaded various parts of the world and is known as an invasive species.

<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.

<i>Aplidium californicum</i> Species of sea squirt

Aplidium californicum is a species of colonial sea squirt, a tunicate in the family Polyclinidae. It is commonly known as sea pork.

<i>Aplidium solidum</i> Species of chordates

Aplidium solidum is a species of colonial sea squirts, a tunicate in the family Polyclinidae. It is commonly known as the red ascidian or sea pork.

<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>Ciona savignyi</i> Species of sea squirt

Ciona savignyi is a marine animal sometimes known as the Pacific transparent sea squirt or solitary sea squirt. It is a species of tunicates in the family Cionidae. It is found in shallow waters around Japan and has spread to the west coast of North America where it is regarded as an invasive species.

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

Styela angularis is a solitary, hermaphroditic ascidian tunicate that is found along the coast of Southern Africa from Lüderitz Bay in Namibia to the Eastern Cape.

<i>Polyclinum planum</i> Species of sea squirt

Polyclinum planum, is a compound ascidian commonly known as the Elephant Ear Tunicate. It is an ascidian tunicate in the family Polyclinidae. Ascidians are also known as sea squirts.

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

Molgula occidentalis is a species of marine invertebrate of the family Molgulidae. The scientific name of the species was validated and published for the first time in 1883 by Traustedt. It is a soft-bodied, intertidal ascidian, sac-like filter feeders in the subphylum tunicate characterized by a hard outer covering known as a “tunic,” abundant in the shallow subtidal and intertidal zones of the Northern Gulf of Mexico, where they establish pseudopopulations.

<i>Boltenia villosa</i> Species of sea squirt

Boltenia villosa is a species of tunicate, a marine invertebrate of the family Pyuridae. Common names include the spiny-headed tunicate, the hairy sea squirt, the stalked hairy sea squirt and the bristly tunicate. This species was first described in 1864 by the American marine biologist William Stimpson who gave it the name Cynthia villosa. It was later transferred to the genus Boltenia. The type locality is Puget Sound, Washington state, United States.

<i>Neobernaya spadicea</i> Species of gastropod

Neobernaya spadicea, common name the chestnut cowrie, is a species of sea snail in the cowrie family, Cypraeidae. Chestnut cowries can be found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from central California to Baja California. The chestnut cowrie has a highly glossy shell due to an enamel that is secreted from its mantle.

<i>Cnemidocarpa finmarkiensis</i> Species of sea squirt

Cnemidocarpa finmarkiensis is a species of solitary ascidian tunicate in the family Styelidae. Common names include broad base sea squirt, orange sea squirt, red sea squirt, shiny orange sea squirt, shiny red tunicate and Finmark's tunicate. It is native to shallow waters in the northern and northeastern Pacific Ocean.

<i>Pyura haustor</i> Species of chordates

Pyura haustor is a species of sessile ascidian, or sea squirt, that lives in coastal waters in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean, attached to rocks or artificial structures. Common names for this species include the wrinkled seapump, the wrinkled sea squirt and the warty tunicate.

Saccharina dentigera is a species of brown algae, in the family Laminariaceae. It is native to shallow water in the northeastern Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California.

Halocynthia igaboja, commonly known as the sea hedgehog, the bristly tunicate or spiny sea squirt, is a species of tunicate in the family Pyuridae. It is native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean. This species was first described in 1906 by the Japanese marine biologist Asajiro Oka, who gave it the name Cynthia ritteri. It was later transferred to the genus Halocynthia.

References

  1. 1 2 "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Styela montereyensis (Dall, 1872)". Marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  2. 1 2 Brian Catelli. "Styela montereyensis". Wallawalla.edu. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Man-Made Reef Ecology". Content.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  4. ↑ Ritter, Walter E. (1893). "Tunicata of the Pacific Coast of North America. I, Perophora annectens n. sp". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 4 (2): 37–85.
  5. ↑ Young, Craig M.; Braithwaite, Lee F. (1980). "Orientation and current-induced flow in the stalked ascidian Steyla montereyensis". The Biological Bulletin. 159 (2): 428–440. doi:10.2307/1541105. JSTOR   1541105.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Morris, Robert Harding (1980). Intertidal Invertebrates of California. Stanford University Press. p. 206. ISBN   978-0-8047-1045-9.
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