The Ascidians Trididemnum Alleni and Distaplia Garstangi, New Species from the Plymouth Area

Abstract

Two ascidians have been collected in the region of Plymouth that do not fit the descriptions of known species sufficiently well to be identified with them. They are species of Trididemnum and Distaplia.These genera are represented in waters around the British Isles only by Trididemnum tenerum (Verrill) and Distaplia rosea Delia Valle. If Trididemnum niveum should be a valid species and not a synonym for T. tenerum as considered by Hartmeyer (1924), it also is probably present. Accordingly, any species that cannot be identified with these forms must either be new, or must represent geographical extensions of species not previously recorded. In this last respect, the possibility of the Mediterranean Distaplia magnilarva reaching the western Channel must be considered. As the following discussions indicate, the conclusions are that the two forms described here cannot be properly identified with any of the above and are to be treated as new species.Trididemnum alleni n.sp. is named after the late Dr E. J. Allen, so long the inspiring and humane director of the Plymouth Laboratory, while Distaplia garstangi n.sp. is so named as a small tribute to Professor Walter Garstang for his pioneering interest in the ascidians of Plymouth waters.Trididemnum Alleni sp.nov.Colonies are usually small, less than a centimetre in greatest length, and about 3 mm. thick. They are brilliantly white, an appearance retained even in preserved specimens of long standing. The surface is uneven. They are commonly attached to Eunicella and larger hydroids such as Antennularia at depths of from 10 to 30 m., and have been recorded with certainty only from the Plymouth area of the English Channel.