Botrylloides niger Herdman, 1886

A. Palomino-Alvarez, Lilian, Moreira Rocha, Rosana & Simoes, Nuno, 2019, Checklist of ascidians (Chordata, Tunicata) from the southern Gulf of Mexico, ZooKeys 832, pp. 1-33 : 1

Botrylloides niger Herdman, 1886 Fig. 4Q

Material examined.

CAGoM-0029, CAGoM-0030, CAGoM-0032, CAGoM-0037, CAGoM-0038, Chel 2, 1 m, 11-05-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez; CAGoM-0040, Cel 2, 1 m, 11-05-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez; CAGoM-0185, Arc 3, 3 m, 30-10-2015, leg. L. Palomino-Alvarez.

Photographed record (no specimens in collection): VeR, 8 m, 20-09-2015, L. Palomino-Alvarez

Remarks.

Botrylloides niger is among the species considered common and abundant in tropical waters ( Rocha et al. 2010) with a widespread geographical distribution, where it attaches to natural and artificial substrates ( Sheets et al. 2016 - as B. nigrum ). We found it beneath rocks, on coral reefs, in ports and lagoons.

Global distribution.

United States ( Van Name 1945), Mexico ( Van Name 1945), Bermuda ( Herdman 1886; Van Name 1902, 1945; Monniot 1972), Belize ( Goodbody 2000), Panama ( Carman et al. 2011), Curaçao (Goodbody 1984), Bonaire (Millar 1962), Venezuela ( Rocha et al. 2010; Carballo-Pérez and Díaz 2011), Cuba ( Van Name 1945), Jamaica ( Goodbody 2003), Puerto Rico (Van Name), Guadeloupe ( Monniot 1983b), Martinique ( Monniot 2018b as B. nigrum ), Antilles ( Gravier 1955; Van Name 1930), Tobago ( Cole 2012), Brazil ( Rodrigues 1962; Rocha and Costa 2005; Rocha and Kremer 2005; Rocha and Bonnet 2009; Dias et al. 2012), Morocco (Millar 1698), Senegal ( Monniot 1969), Israel Mediterranean ( Sheets et al. 2016), Singapore ( Sheets et al. 2016), Somalia ( Millar 1988), Madagascar ( Vasseur 1970), French Polynesia ( Monniot et al. 1985).