Atlas of Living Australia
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Aplidium longithorax is a sessile and colonial sea squirt of the genus Aplidium and has so far only been found in the Western Pacific.
The first description indicates that the sea squirt, that the holotype was 3cm thick and 6cm in diameter.
The colony was pink-rosy, the thorax red.
On page 212 of their book “Ascidians from the tropical western Pacific”, Monniot & Monniot state that the caudal sheath can also be yellowish.
Sea squirts are filter feeders that capture their food using a mucus filter.
The body of a sea squirt consists of three main areas:
- the head (protosoma), which contains the mouth opening and the nervous system
- the thorax (middle section), which contains the main part of the digestive tract and the gills.
- The gills are important for filtering the water that passes through the body to collect food particles.
The thorax also contains the heart area and most of the organs responsible for breathing and food intake.
The abdomen (rear part) contains the reproductive system and is protected in many species by the so-called “coat cavity”, which is surrounded by a hard outer layer.
Etymology:
The species name “longithorax” is derived from the Latin elements “longus” (long) and “thorax” (chest).
The first description indicates that the sea squirt, that the holotype was 3cm thick and 6cm in diameter.
The colony was pink-rosy, the thorax red.
On page 212 of their book “Ascidians from the tropical western Pacific”, Monniot & Monniot state that the caudal sheath can also be yellowish.
Sea squirts are filter feeders that capture their food using a mucus filter.
The body of a sea squirt consists of three main areas:
- the head (protosoma), which contains the mouth opening and the nervous system
- the thorax (middle section), which contains the main part of the digestive tract and the gills.
- The gills are important for filtering the water that passes through the body to collect food particles.
The thorax also contains the heart area and most of the organs responsible for breathing and food intake.
The abdomen (rear part) contains the reproductive system and is protected in many species by the so-called “coat cavity”, which is surrounded by a hard outer layer.
Etymology:
The species name “longithorax” is derived from the Latin elements “longus” (long) and “thorax” (chest).
