Oikopleura cophocerca (Gegenbaur, 1855)

Appendicularia cophocerca Gegenbaur 1855: 408, Figs. 4 –5.

Oikopleura (Vexillaria) cophocerca: Tokioka 1960: 355, Fig. 14.

Oikopleura cophocerca: Lohmann 1896: 66, Pl. 11 Figs. 2, 4, Pl. 12 Figs. 1b, 2, 3. Smith et al. 1901: 104, Fig. 24. Bückmann 1969: 3, Fig. 6a–c. Fenaux 1993: 56, 71, 80; 1998: 300, 302. Aravena & Palma 2002: 312, 313, Fig. 4B.

Material examined. Twelve specimens (MDAFWU 2020 /411–422), St.205, January 2020 .

Description. Trunk 1–1.5 mm long, moderately elongate. Mouth with a developed lower lip; oral glands large, rounded to rectangular. Left stomach lobe elongated, with a pocket-shaped caecum towards its posterior end. The rectum is horizontally oriented, and the anus is near the oral wall of the stomach. The endostyle is small and almost at an equal distance between the mouth and the anus. Gonads adjoining the gut hemispherically and protruding dorsally. Tail musculature broad, and five to eight oval subchordal cells in a line, disposed of in two groups.

Global distribution. The Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea (Fenaux et al. 1998); Australian waters (Thompson 1948). Type locality: Messina, Mediterranean Sea.