Select the search type
 
  • Site
  • Web
Search
You are here:   OldClasses > 2012 > Ascidia glabra | Emmanuelle Zoccola

 

Minimize

 

Ascidia glabra (Hartmeyer, 1992)                
Sea squirt





Emmanuelle Zoccola (2012)


Photo by Arnault Gauthier

 

Fact Sheet

Minimize

Overview

Summary


Description

Size and Colour


External Morphology


Anatomy


Identification Resources


Ecology

Associations


Life History

Introduction to Life History


Embryonic Development


Larvae Settlement


Larvae Development


Evolution & Systematics

Phylogeny of Chordata


Systematics


Distribution

Local Distribution and Habitat


Global Distribution


References & Links

References


Web Site Links

Summary


Ascidians, commonly called sea squirts, are one of the most evolved invertebrates. At first, they were thought to be very simple organisms but their larvae possess a notochord that clearly relates these animals to the Chordata Phylum (which includes the Vertebrates) (Kraus, 1978). The ascidian species Ascidia glabra, on which I focused, belongs to the largest class of Tunicata, the Ascidiacea Class. A. glabra are sedentary solitary sea squirts inhabiting inter-tidal zones off the East Australian Coast (Kott, 2005). Due to their relatively limited global distribution, there is only little information on A. glabra life cycle and behaviour, including their embryonic development and settlement preferences. These aspects of A. glabra life cycle were thus studied during the 2012 Heron Island field trip to try to fill the current gaps in knowledge.

Classification

Minimize