A redescription of Syncarpacomposita (Ascidiacea, Stolidobranchia) with an inference of its phylogenetic position within Styelidae.

ABSTRACT: Two species of styelid colonial ascidians in the genus Syncarpa Redikorzev, 1913 are known from the northwest Pacific. The valid status of the lesser known species, Syncarpacomposita (Tokioka, 1951) (type locality: Akkeshi, Japan), is assessed here. To assess the taxonomic identity of S.composita, we compared one of the syntypes and freshly collected topotypes of S.composita with a syntype of S.oviformis Redikorzev, 1913 (type locality: Ul'banskij Bay, Russia). Specimens of S.composita consistently differed from the syntype of S.oviformis in the number of oral tentacles, the number of size-classes of transverse vessels, and the number of anal lobes. In this paper, S.composita is redescribed as distinct from S.oviformis, and its

SUBMITTER: Hasegawa N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6603006 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature