New and little‐known species of Didemnidae (Ascidiacea, Tunicata) from Australia (Part 3)

Abstract

The majority of the 58 species discussed, including 10 new species, were collected by scuba divers at 5–10 m in waters around Australia. Species are from Leptoclinides (11), Polysyncraton (11), Didemnum (19), Trididemnum (7), Lissoclinum (8), Clitella (1), and Diplosoma (1), and new species are in all except Trididemnum and Diplosoma. Additional characters (including a pyloric vesicle reported previously in the Holozoidae and several unrelated didemnid taxa) have been detected for the monotypic genus Clitella Kott, 2001 Kott, P . 2001. The Australian Ascidiacea Pt 4, Didemnidae.. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 47(1): 1–410. , which is recorded for only the second time. A review of known Australian ascidian species confirms the Didemnidae as the most speciose ascidian family in these waters. In this family, there appears not to be appreciable gene flow between tropical and temperate waters and few species have a continuous tropical–temperate range. A preponderance of Western Pacific non‐indigenous species is in the north, while indigenous species, some probably isolated from related tropical ones, are dominant in the temperate waters of the southern half of the continent. Although intraspecific variation and convergence obscures species differences, some aspects of the living organisms detected in in situ photographs contribute to identification. Keys to Australian didemnid species described since the publication of the Australian Ascidiacea part 4, Didemnidae (Kott 2001 Kott, P . 2001. The Australian Ascidiacea Pt 4, Didemnidae.. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 47(1): 1–410. ) are included.