''Pyura dalbyi'', the yellow cunjevoi, is a species of large, solitary
ascidians
Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" ...
, or sea squirts.
Distribution
This species has been found in several localities in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, south-eastern Australia,
[Dalby, J.E., Jr. (1997) Dimorphism in the ascidian ''Pyura stolonifera'' near Melbourne, Australia, and its evaluation through field transplant experiments. Marine Ecology, 18, 253–271.] and in a single locality in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
(
Albany harbour).
[Rius, M. and Teske, P.R. (2011) A revision of the ''Pyura stolonifera'' species complex (Tunicata, Ascidiacea), with a description of a new species from Australia. Zootaxa 2754: 27-40 ; article available at: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt02754p040.pdf] Unlike other species of cunjevoi in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
, ''P. dalbyi'' has been found almost exclusively subtidally.
Description
''Pyura dalbyi'' has a yellow, sand-free
tunic
A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...
, a highly conspicuous feature that readily distinguishes it from other species of
cunjevoi in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
.
Etymology
''Pyura dalbyi'' is named after Dr. James Edward Dalby Jr, who reported distributional, morphometric and ecological differences between this species and its congener ''
P. praeputialis''.
Taxonomy
This species is a member of the "''P. stolonifera'' species complex", a group of large ascidians that are often indiscriminately referred to as ''
P. stolonifera'' in the literature.
Genetic data indicate that it is only distantly related to the other two Australasian species in this species complex, ''
P. praeputialis'' and ''
P. doppelgangera''.
[Teske, P.R. et al. (2011): Nested cryptic diversity in a widespread marine ecosystem engineer: a challenge for detecting biological invasions. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11:176 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-176; article available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/176]
References
Stolidobranchia
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