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1 September 2003 Studies on Japanese Botryllid Ascidians. IV. A New Species of the Genus Botryllus with a Unique Colony Shape, from the Vicinity of Shimoda
Yasunori Saito, Makiko Okuyama
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Abstract

The morphology and life history of a strange and unidentified botryllid ascidian were investigated. This ascidian was first collected from the stony shore of Ebisu Island in Shimoda, a city on Izu peninsula in central Japan. Unlike other botryllid ascidians, whose colonies are flat and smooth, this ascidian's colonies are rugged. In each colony, zooids are arranged into several oval systems, each of which has a thick part containing zooids and very thin parts that do not. The arrangement of ovary and testis in this species is the same as in other species of the genus Botryllus; the ovary is situated anterior to the testis. The embryo of this ascidian develops in the peribranchial cavity of its mother zooid without any brooding organs, as is the case with Botryllus scalaris and Botryllus puniceus. Meanwhile, the results of cut colony assay experiments did not show the existence of colony specificity in this ascidian. Even when two syngeneic colonies were brought into contact at their growing edges, none fused together. On the other hand, when two colonies were brought into contact with each other at their cut surfaces, they always fused into a single colony, regardless of their origin. Therefore, this species may be the only species that lacks colony specificity among the botryllids studied so far.

Yasunori Saito and Makiko Okuyama "Studies on Japanese Botryllid Ascidians. IV. A New Species of the Genus Botryllus with a Unique Colony Shape, from the Vicinity of Shimoda," Zoological Science 20(9), 1153-1161, (1 September 2003). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.20.1153
Received: 3 April 2003; Accepted: 1 June 2003; Published: 1 September 2003
KEYWORDS
Ascidian
Botryllus
colony specificity
new species
taxonomy
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