Family CORELLIDAE

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Introduction

The family Corellidae Herdman, 1882, in common with most phlebobranchs, contains robust ascidians with a firm gelatinous test and a large flat branchial sac. It is distinguished by the position of the gut loop and gonads in the parietal body wall to the right (rather than to the left) of the pharynx. The family is represented by two subfamilies, Corellinae Herdman, 1882 (with coiled stigmata), and Rhodosomatinae Seeliger, 1893 (with straight stigmata).

Among Corellinae, Corella eumyota Traustedt, 1882 is the only species presently known from Australia. It is recorded from both temperate and tropical waters. However, appreciable populations have not been detected in shallow littoral waters, although it has been found in large numbers on the sea floor around New Zealand (Kott 1969).

The only species in the subfamily Rhodosomatinae recorded from Australia, Rhodosoma turcicum (Savigny, 1816), is widely distributed in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Though taken from a vast latitudinal range, it has been recorded in crowded populations only in deeper (175–155 m) waters off north-eastern Tasmania. The species is readily identified by the fold that projects into the body almost completely isolating an anterior flap or lid which closes down over the apertures, the body muscles being modified to operate the lid.

General References

Herdman, W.A. 1880. Preliminary report on the Tunicata of the Challenger expedition. Ascidiidae. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 10(1): 458-472

Herdman, W.A. 1882. Report on the Tunicata collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876. Pt I, Ascidiae simplices. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger 1873–1876, Zoology 6(17): 1-296

Kott, P. 1969. Antarctic Ascidiacea. A monographic account of the known species based on specimens collected under U.S. Government auspices 1947 to 1963. Antarctic Research Series 13: i-xv 1-239

Kott, P. 1985. The Australian Ascidiacea Pt 1, Phlebobranchia and Stolidobranchia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 23: 1-440

Savigny, J.C. 1816. Recherches anatomiques sur les ascidies composées et sur les ascidies simples—Système de la classe des Ascidies pp. 1–239. In Mémoires sur les Animaux sans Vertèbres, Pt 2. Paris : G. Dufour.

Seeliger, O. 1893. Appendicularien and Ascidien, Tunicata. Manteltiere. pp. 1-48 in Bronn, H.G. (ed.). Klassen und Ordnungen des Tier-Reichs. Leipzig : C.F. Winter Vol. 3 Suppl. 1.

Traustedt, M.P.A. 1882. Vestindiske Ascidiae Simplices, Forste Afdeling. Phallusiadae. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening i Kjøbenhavn 1881: 257-288

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