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Molgula Complanata
''Molgula'', or sea grapes, are very common, globular, individual marine tunicates roughly the size of grapes.Sanamyan, K.; Monniot, C. (2012). Molgula Forbes, 1848. In: Noa Shenkar, Arjan Gittenberger, Gretchen Lambert, Marc Rius, Rosana Moreira Da Rocha, Billie J. Swalla, Xavier Turon (2012) Ascidiacea World Database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=103509 on 2012-02-26 They are translucent with two protruding siphons. They are found subtidally, attached to slow-moving submerged objects or organisms. All species of ''Molgula'' have a fluid-filled structure called the renal sac. The renal sac contains nitrogenous wastes, solid concretions composed of weddellite and calcite, and an apicomplexan symbiont called ''Nephromyces.'' In the western Atlantic Ocean, they range from the Arctic to North Carolina, to the center of the United States Eastern Seaboard. Species * ''Molgula aidae'' Oka, 1914 * ''Molgula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunicate
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 (including vertebrates). 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'. Some tunicates live as solitary individuals, but others replicate by budding and become colonies, each unit being known as a zooid. They are marine filter feeders with a water-filled, sac-like body structure and two tubular openings, known as siphons, through which they draw in and expel water. During their respiration and feeding, they take in water through the incurrent (or inhalant) siphon and expel the filtered water through the excurrent (or exhalant) siphon. Most adult tunicates are sessile, immobile and perman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
