Doliolidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

tunicate Tunicates are marine invertebrates belonging to the subphylum Tunicata ( ). This grouping is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ...

s in the order

Doliolida The Doliolida are an order of small marine chordates of the subphylum Tunicata. They are in the class Thaliacea, which also includes the salps and pyrosomes. The doliolid body is small, typically 1–2 mm long, and barrel-shaped; it fea ...

. Members of the family are

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

and often found far away from coastlines.Doliolidae
World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-11-17. Members of the family are transparent, gelatinous, barrel-shaped or cylindrical marine organisms. They are mostly small and inconspicuous. They have

cilia The cilium (: cilia; ; in Medieval Latin and in anatomy, ''cilium'') is a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea.) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike proj ...

which move water through the

mucus Mucus (, ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both Serous fluid, serous and muc ...

nets which they use to trap the

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...

on which they feed. This is in contrast to their close relations, the

salp A salp (: salps, also known colloquially as “sea grape”) or salpa (: salpae or salpas) is a barrel-shaped, Plankton, planktonic tunicate in the family Salpidae. The salp moves by contracting its gelatinous body in order to pump water thro ...

s, which use contractions of transverse muscles in the body wall for this purpose. Doliolids also have circular muscles, the sudden contraction of which cause them to move rapidly in a characteristic jerky manner.Pelagic Tunicates
JelliesZone. Retrieved 2011-11-17. They have a complex life cycle, as do other doliolids, with forms that alternate between generations that undergo sexual and

asexual reproduction Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the f ...

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species lists the following genera and species: *'' Dolioletta'' Borgert, 1894 **'' Dolioletta chuni'' (Neumann, 1906) **''

Dolioletta gegenbauri ''Dolioletta gegenbauri'' is a species of tunicate in the family Doliolidae. It is small, exists in various forms and is sometimes found in great abundance in the Atlantic and Pacific waters where it lives. Life cycle ''Dolioletta gegenbauri'' ...

'' (Uljanin, 1884) **'' Dolioletta mirabilis'' Korotneff, 1891 **'' Dolioletta tritonis'' Herdman, 1888 **'' Dolioletta valdiviae'' (Neumann, 1906) *'' Doliolina'' Garstang, 1933 *'' Dolioloides'' Garstang, 1933 *''

Doliolum ''Doliolum'' is a genus of tunicates, the members of which move via jet propulsion. A detailed description can be found in the article, "On the anatomical structure of the trophozooid of Doliolum denticulatum." Species The World Register of Mar ...

'' Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 **''

Doliolum denticulatum ''Doliolum'' is a genus of tunicates, the members of which move via jet propulsion. A detailed description can be found in the article, "On the anatomical structure of the trophozooid of Doliolum denticulatum." Species The World Register of Mar ...

'' Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 **''

Doliolum intermedium ''Doliolum'' is a genus of tunicates, the members of which move via jet propulsion. A detailed description can be found in the article, "On the anatomical structure of the trophozooid of Doliolum denticulatum." Species The World Register of Ma ...

'' Neumann, 1906 **''

Doliolum nationalis ''Doliolum'' is a genus of tunicates, the members of which move via jet propulsion. A detailed description can be found in the article, "On the anatomical structure of the trophozooid of Doliolum denticulatum." Species The World Register of Ma ...

'' Borgert, 1894

References

Doliolida Tunicate families {{tunicata-stub