Microcosmus exasperatus
Microcosmus exasperatus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Tunicata |
Class: | Ascidiacea |
Order: | Stolidobranchia |
Family: | Pyuridae |
Genus: | Microcosmus |
Species: | M. exasperatus |
Binomial name | |
Microcosmus exasperatus Heller, 1878 |
Microscosmus exasperatus is a species of tunicate in the family, Pyuridae, and was first described in 1878 by Camill Heller.[1][2]
It is found in the warm, temperate and tropical seas[3] of Australia, where it is found on the coastal shelves of New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.[1] It is also found in seas off the West Indies, east Africa and in the Red Sea.[1] It has been found on many substrates including "pilings, stones, mangrove roots, and coral reefs, buoys, floats, and vessel hulls".[3]
It is an invasive species, and is now found in the central and eastern Mediterranean, and Pacific oceanic islands.[3] (The Smithsonian considers its native range to be the eastern and western tropical Atlantic, and the Indo-West Pacific.)[3]
This species is often confused with Microcosmus squamiger but has longer spines.[3] It feeds on phytoplankton.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "Species Microcosmus exasperatus Heller, 1878". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Government. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ Camill Heller (1878). "Beiträge zur nähern Kenntnis der Tunicaten". Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse (in German). 77 (1): 1-28 [17]. ISSN 0723-9319. Wikidata Q127657898.
- ^ a b c d e f "Microcosmus exasperatus". invasions.si.edu. Retrieved 27 July 2024.