| Dolioletta | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Tunicata |
| Class: | Thaliacea |
| Order: | Doliolida |
| Family: | Doliolidae |
| Genus: | Dolioletta Borgert, 1894 [1] |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
Dolioletta is a genus of tunicates in the family Doliolidae.
Characteristics
Members of the genus Dolioletta are transparent, gelatinous barrel-shaped animals, usually less than one centimetre long. They move in jerks by contracting the circular bands of muscle in their body wall sharply.[2]
Biology
They have the complex life cycle typical of the doliolids, with alternating sexual and asexual phases. They use a net of mucus strands to efficiently trap phytoplankton floating past. They both grow fast and multiply rapidly and a single animal is capable of forming thousands of new individuals in a few days. They sometimes form dense swarms with up to 500 individuals per square metre.[2]
Species
The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species:[1]
- Dolioletta chuni (Neumann, 1906)
- Dolioletta gegenbauri (Uljanin, 1884)
- Dolioletta mirabilis Korotneff, 1891
- Dolioletta tritonis Herdman, 1888
- Dolioletta valdiviae (Neumann, 1906)
References
- 1 2 Dolioletta Borgert, 1894 World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
- 1 2 Dolioletta Archived May 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine JelliesZone. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
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