Fritillaria pellucida
Busch (1851)
Download a fact sheet for Fritillaria pellucida (PDF 379KB)
Taxonomy
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Appendicularia |
| Order | Copelata |
| Family | Fritillariidae |
| Genus | Fritillaria |
| Species | pellucida |
Size
- Trunk up to 2.2 mm long
- Tail up to 3 mm
Distinguishing characteristics
- Trunk
- Rectangular and flattened, with 2 conic appendices on its genital end
- Mouth with protruding upper lip
- Digestive tract axis transverse
- Gonads asymmetrically arranged
- Testis on the right side of the body; cylindrical and transverse in young specimens, later becoming Y-shaped
- Ovary spherical, on the left side of the body
- Tail
- Musculature broad
- V shaped notch at rear
- Two amphichordal cell on each side, with ejective ducts, (no of cells may be reduced to 3)
Distribution
- The distribution in Australian includes
- Worldwide distribution North and Central Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, subtropical SW Atlantic Ocean, tropical Indian and W Pacific Oceans
Ecology
References
- Thompson, H., (1948) Pelagic tunicates of Australia, CSIRO, Melbourne
- Marine species identification portal, http://species-identification.org/index.php