Péron, 1804

Description
Cylindrical colony with tough consistency; characteristically provided with numerous longer or shorter truncate test processes, tapering into an acanthose, backwards pointing tip. Open end of colony with a tight diaphragm.
Zooids tightly packed, rounded in shape, sometimes more angular or even triangular with a broad oral part of the branchial basket. Length of zooid up to 8.5 mm. Sexually mature zooids are found in colonies of 4-6 cm length onwards.

Colour
Pink or yellowish pink; colonial wall opaque.

Size
Length of colony up to 60 cm and 4-6 cm thick.

Depth range
No information.

Distribution in the North Sea
Rare in the North Sea (see Ihle, 1927).

World distribution
Common and widespread Pyrosoma species, usually occurring between 50°N and 50 °S in all oceans.

[After Van Soest, 1981]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Tunicata
Class Thaliacea
Order Pyrosomida
Family Pyrosomatidae
Genus Pyrosoma
Species Pyrosoma atlanticum

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Pyrosoma atlanticum Péron, 1804

Scientific synonyms and common names

Pyrosoma elegans | Lesueur, 1813
Pyrosoma giganteum | Lesueur, 1815
Pyrosoma rufum | Quoy and Gaimard, 1824
Pyrosoma triangulum | Neumann, 1909
Pyrosoma giganteum var. atlanticum | Krüger, 1912
Pyrosoma benthica | Monniot and Monniot, 1966
Dipleurosoma ellipticum | Brooks, 1906
Pyrosoma atlanticum| , many varieties, subspecies, and forms, see Van Soest, 1981

Fraser, J.H., 1981. British pelagic tunicates. Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series), No. 20. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 57 pp.

Ihle, J.E.W., 1927. Thaliacea. In: G. Grimpe and E. Wagler (eds), Die Tierwelt der Nord- und Ostsee, XIIa2: 21-48. Leipzig.

Metcalf, M.M. and H.S. Hopkins, 1919. Pyrosoma. A taxonomic study based upon the collections of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and the U.S. National Museum. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., 100: 195-276.

Van Soest, R.W.M., 1981. A monograph of the order Pyrosomatida (Tunicata, Thaliacea). Journal of Plankton Research, 3(4): 603-631.

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