''Pyura dalbyi'', the yellow cunjevoi, is a species of
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 ...
Distribution
This species has been found in several localities in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, south-eastern Australia,
[Dalby, J.E., Jr. (1997) Dimorphism in the ascidian ''Pyura stolonifera'' near Melbourne, Australia, and its evaluation through field transplant experiments. Marine Ecology, 18, 253–271.] and in a single locality in
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
(
Albany harbour).
[Rius, M. and Teske, P.R. (2011) A revision of the ''Pyura stolonifera'' species complex (Tunicata, Ascidiacea), with a description of a new species from Australia. Zootaxa 2754: 27-40 ; article available at: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt02754p040.pdf] Unlike other species of cunjevoi in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
, ''P. dalbyi'' has been found almost exclusively subtidally.
Description
''Pyura dalbyi'' has a yellow, sand-free
tunic
A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...
, a highly conspicuous feature that readily distinguishes it from other species of
cunjevoi in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
.
Etymology
''Pyura dalbyi'' is named after Dr. James Edward Dalby Jr, who reported distributional, morphometric and ecological differences between this species and its congener ''
P. praeputialis''.
Taxonomy
This species is a member of the "''P. stolonifera'' species complex", a group of large ascidians that are often indiscriminately referred to as ''
P. stolonifera'' in the literature.
Genetic data indicate that it is only distantly related to the other two Australasian species in this species complex, ''
P. praeputialis'' and ''
P. doppelgangera''.
[Teske, P.R. et al. (2011): Nested cryptic diversity in a widespread marine ecosystem engineer: a challenge for detecting biological invasions. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11:176 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-176; article available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/176]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14245192
Pyuridae