Polyandrocarpa zorritensis (Van Name, 1931)

Fig. 9

Stolonica zorritensis Van Name, 1931, Peru.

Polyandrocarpa zorritensis: Van Name 1945; Monniot F. 2016a. Station: AM 34 (MNHN S1 POL.A 57)

The zooids are basally included into a common tunic or only linked by stolons (Fig. 9C). In formalin the tunic is grey naked and resistant. Zooids have different sizes; the largest is 4mm long. The siphons are close together with their aperture in a cross. The body wall is thin with a network of thin muscular fibres. There is an oral velum at the top of about 30 oral tentacles in two orders of size. The prepharyngeal double band is not curved dorsally. The dorsal tubercle in button opens in a hole. The branchial sac (Fig. 9B) has the same structure as in specimens described from the Mediterranean Sea (Brunetti & Mastrototaro 1994; Monniot F. 2016a). There are 4 branchial folds, the most ventral smaller. The most dorsal fold on the right side moves apart from the dorsal lamina posteriorly. There are some parastigmatic vessels. A branchial formula is:

E-(3) 1 (6) 1 (6) 1 (7) 1- DL -(6) 1 (7) 1 (7) 1 (4) - E

The stomach is short with a curved caecum (Fig. 9A). There is a single round endocarp inside the primary gut loop. Mature gonads were found only in the largest zooid, with 7 polycarps on the right side and 4 on the left side. In each polycarp there are 2 lines of testes against the body wall. Most of the specimens are not fully mature and buds are present on the stolons (Fig. 9C).

Globally distributed (Brunetti & Mastrototaro 1994; Lambert and Lambert 2003; Monniot F. 2016a) P. zorritensis is present in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, southern California, Hawaii, Galapagos, Brazil, Mediterranean Sea, Japan and numerous other locations.