''Perophora'' is a sea squirt

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the family Perophoridae. Most species are found in shallow warm water but a few are found in higher latitudes. A colony consists of a number of

zooid A zooid or zoöid is a single animal that is part of a colonial animal. This lifestyle has been adopted by animals from separate unrelated taxa. Zooids are multicellular; their structure is similar to that of other solitary animals. The zooi ...

s which bud off from a long slender

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

Characteristics

A ''Perophora'' colony consists of a system of stolons from which individual zooids arise at intervals. Each zooid has four or five rows of stigmata in the wall of the atrium, the one exception being '' Perophora multistigmata'' which has eight rows. In some cases, the five-rowed species have some stigmata extending over the first and second rows indicating that the primary number of rows is four. In '' Ecteinascidia'', the only other genus in the family, there are always eight or more rows of stigmata, usually twelve to twenty rows. Other distinguishing characteristics are that ''Perophora'' has a horizontal gut loop with a short

rectum The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in humans and some other mammals, and the Gastrointestinal tract, gut in others. The adult human rectum is about long, and begins at the rectosigmoid junction (the end of the s ...

and a testis with usually one, but up to four lobes, situated in the gut loop. In ''Ecteinascidia'' the gut loop is curved, the rectum long and the testis multi-lobed.

Species

The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species: *'' Perophora annectens'' Ritter, 1893 *'' Perophora bermudensis'' Berrill, 1932 *'' Perophora carpenteria'' Goodbody, 1994 *'' Perophora clavata'' Kott, 1985 *'' Perophora euphues'' (Sluiter, 1895) *'' Perophora hornelli'' Herdman, 1906 *'' Perophora hutchisoni'' Macdonald, 1859 *'' Perophora jacerens'' (Tokioka, 1954) *'' Perophora japonica'' Oka, 1927 *'' Perophora listeri'' Wiegman, 1835 *'' Perophora longicaulis'' Kott, 2003 *'' Perophora modificata'' Kott, 1985 *'' Perophora multiclathrata'' (Sluiter, 1904) *'' Perophora multistigmata'' Kott, 1952 *'' Perophora namei'' Hartmeyer & Michaelsen, 1928 *'' Perophora psammodes'' (Sluiter, 1895) *'' Perophora regina'' Goodbody & Cole, 1987 *'' Perophora sabulosa'' Kott, 1990 *'' Perophora sagamiensis'' Tokioka, 1953 *'' Perophora tokarae'' *'' Perophora virgulata'' Monniot, 1997 *'' Perophora viridis'' Verrill, 1871 Perophora listeri 001

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4919853 Enterogona Tunicate genera