Suborder STOLONATA Emschermann, 1972

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Introduction

After Wasson (2003)
The sub-order Stolonata, behind Family Loxosomatidae, is the second largest natural grouping of kamptozoans. The calyces of stolonates are generally larger than those of loxosomatids, producing stronger ciliary currents that apparently free the zooids from dependence on their hosts' ciliary currents. Stolonate calyces are generally laterally compressed. Their musculature is reduced, often to just a few longitudinal strands, the atrial retractor muscles, which extend from the base of the calyx to the atrium and serve to depress it. Calyx and stalk are separated by a cuticular diaphragm and the calyx-stalk junction is spanned by the circulatory star-cell organ; the longitudinal musculature of the stalk is not continuous with that of the calyx. The stalk often bears cuticular pores or spines which vary in size and density with environmental conditions. Stolonate zooids, as their name implies, grow on cylindrical stolons that are usually divided into fertile (zooid-bearing) and sterile (no zooids) segments by transverse septa. The septa may function to space the zooids, thus avoiding interference in feeding, or may prevent damage by sealing off intact sections from harmed ones.

Stolonate kamptozoans are members of the sessile benthic community and often grow together with hydroids and bryozoans. They are preyed upon by nudibranch molluscs, some of which appear to specialise on barentsiid species; predation by turbellarian flatworms has also been observed. Although seldom conspicuous, stolonate kamptozoans are often fairly abundant. Stolonates have been collected intertidally at many sites in Australia and New Zealand by collecting various substrata (mostly sponges, ascidians, bryozoans, worm tubes and bivalve shells) in the field and examining the material in the laboratory. At some localities, an astounding 50-75% of all substrata searched were infested with stolonate kamptozoans, although the level was usually about 5-10% at other sites.

General References

Emschermann, P. 1972. Loxokalypus socialis gen. et sp. nov. (Kamptozoa, Loxokalypodidae fam. nov.), ein neuer Kamptozoentyp aus dem nördlichen Pazifischen Ozean. Ein Vorschlag zur Neufassung der Kamptozoensystematik. Marine Biology, Berlin 12: 237-254

Wasson, K. 2002. A review of the invertebrate phylum Kamptozoa (Entoprocta) and synopsis of kamptozoan diversity in Australia and New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 126(1): 1-20

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