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Clavelina lepadiformis
(Müller, 1776)
Vito Giannecchini Clavelina lepadiformis
Lerici
7 mGiorgio Cavallaro Uwp http://www.uwphotographers.net/2013/09/uwp-vito-giannecchini.html
Message posted on UWphotographers on 20 Sep 2013
Craig Muirhead Is the squirt shown here with the yellow bands down the tunic a form of light bulb sea squirt, Clavelina lepadiformis? I haven't noticed it with the yellow bands before but that's probably because I haven't been paying enough attention to tunicates. Shot taken in Loch Long, Scotland 29/11/12Shot taken in Loch Long, Scotland 29/11/12Marco Faasse Its shapes makes me rather think of Corella paralellogramma. I've never seen this colour pattern though.
Jim Anderson I think Marco has it - nice image BTW - new camera eh?
Craig Muirhead Thanks for the ID Marco. Yes Jim the image is from the new toy. First outing so hopefully better to come once I get up to speed. I think the quality lens I borrowed from a friend made all the difference ;-)
Bernard Picton So what camera did you get Craig?
Craig Muirhead Bernard , I got the chance of a super deal on a Sony RX100 in an Ikelite housing from a friend in my club. Had only been used once (on a days diving with me). I wasn't planning to upgrade right now but it was a huge saving so had to take it. Hoping to be able to re-use my Inon AD mount CU lenses when the M67 to AD adaptor finally gets here, but in the meantime Jim loaned me a subsee +5 for our (successful) F verrucosa hunt on Thursday.
Message posted on NE Atlantic Tunicata on 30 Nov 2012
Penny Martin Clavelina lepadiformisBernard Picton Really nice Penny, I've never seen those rhizoids before. I think these must be separate larval settlements. Xavier: what can you tell us about this?
Penny Martin there were lots of single ones all on kelp ... all along the Barrier ... I had not seen them like this before ... always on the concrete blocks in much larger colonies
Xavier Turon No separate settlements, but budding chambers. They are well developed when colonies start growing, be it after settlement or after overwintering. They become comparatively small when colonies grow larger
Becky Hitchin what a fabulous photo, Penny. Interesting to see the whole animal!
Message posted on NE Atlantic Tunicata on 27 Aug 2012
George Brown Clavelina lepadiformis with eggs. Calve Island, Sound of Mull, Scotland, depth 20 metres.Kate Lock wow never seen the with eggs....I will have to start looking more closely!!
David Kipling According to Berrill this species is viviparous - fertilisation takes place inside the animal. His picture shows embryos at the base of the atrial cavity (in just the position the eggs are shown here). Although he doesn't say, what I assume happens is that eggs are released in the position shown here and they get fertilised by sperm that swim in the atrial opening (against the cilia-driven current flow). Once hatched the embryos are free-swimming, so would hatch in situ and then the tadpole-like larvae would swim out thru the atrial opening.
David Kipling If you zoom in George do any of the eggs look like embryos - ie with any internal structure or cellularity?
David Kipling When was this picture taken George?
George Brown Hi David. 15th Jun 2012. I've yet to look at the RAW files but when I get a chance I'll zoom in and see if there's more detail than this JPG shows. My camera records both at the same time but I bin the RAW file if not needed. Like your Ciona video btw!
David Kipling I've been trying to piece together the reproductive cycle of this species from the literature. It sounds as if it has a single round each year of producing eggs, larval development in the 'brood chamber' [bottom of atrial cavity, release, then regression of the zooid. This certainly makes it different to Ciona (which constantly produces and releases eggs). The interesting point is that there's a window when it is brooding eggs, and certainly in the W Med this is very early in the year, with them all having gone and the colony now starting to go dormant by the time summer arrives. I wondering therefore whether the reason Kate (and me too!) may never have noticed the eggs/embryos is that these appear earlier in the year than when I'm in the water, and by the time summer comes it's all done and dusted. This paper describes the W Med population (Fig 3 is the most relevant) although things may be different in the UK of course. http://ub.academia.edu/SLopezLegentil/Papers/1355774/Contrasting_biological_traits_ofClavelina_lepadiformis_Ascidiacea_populations_from_inside_and_outside_harbours_in_the_western_Mediterranean
David Kipling [This also suggests that what you're likely seeing is brooding embryos as opposed to eggs, although I can't get a firm grip on how long larval development/brooding takes place from the papers I've looked at].
George Brown Zooming in on the JPG shows spheres inside the obvious spheres. Will know more after the football. As much as it breaks my heart to say it, "Come on England!!" :-)
David Kipling Look at Fig 1 in this paper, which shows embryos in the brooding pouch of C lepadiformis - looks just like yours! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3167275/
George Brown Interesting paper, many thanks for this kind of information. I've checked my other Clavelina images for this dive/site and they all show similar development. Other dives/sites that same weekend show much less advanced development. Some kind of local trigger?
David Kipling Water temperature perhaps? Or level of food?
Message posted on NE Atlantic Tunicata on 21 Jun 2012
Aqua Soul Bell Ascidian (Clavelina lepadiformis)
Photo is copyright of Geo Cloete. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.Kiki Vleeschouwers Beautiful !
Giorgio Cavallaro (Y)
Message posted on UWphotographers on 19 Apr 2013
Vito Giannecchini Clavelina lepadiformis
Lerici
7 mMessage posted on The Global Diving Community on 20 Sep 2013
Erling Svensen And here one from another image.Floor Driessen Could it be polychaete egg?
Erling Svensen I got a comment from one that should know, and he sayes that it looks like eggs from Ciona. The Ciona spawn the eggs out from the body where they gets fertilized, and the colour is red and green, so I have a feeling that it is it.
George Brown Hi Erling. I've posted Clavelina lepadiformis with eggs in the NE Atlantic Tunicata group.
David Kipling I've dissected Ciona and removed eggs - they certainly look similar to these (although I can't formally exclude them being another species). They come out as a mass of eggs joined together and it takes a bit of effort to disperse them, which fits with your picture of them in a loose "thread" in another picture. See Fig 4 in this, for example. http://hermes.mbl.edu/BiologicalBulletin/MMER/cirino/CirBody.html#Fig
David Kipling One diagnostic feature of Ciona eggs are the follicle cells that surround the egg. It looks like a set of sun rays and Berrill says it is characteristic of this species. Here's a pic from the Gothenburg marine lab. You can see these follicle cells with a (good) dissecting microscope. http://www.gu.se/digitalAssets/1278/1278780_AggTarmsjopungJH460.jpg
David Kipling Was the dive location rich in Ciona by the way Erling (eg a harbour)? A full-sized adult can release upwards of 1,000 eggs a day. There's an excellent review of Ciona from the Canadian fisheries department (they have Ciona as a nuisance non-native, esp in PEI). http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/325198.pdf
David Kipling A quick video of Ciona eggs is here, showing the follicle cells. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=319065654845530&set=vb.100002262958633&type=2&theater
Message posted on NE Atlantic Nudibranchs on 21 Jun 2012
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat Pycnoclavella aurilucens, Clavelina lepadiformis and one Pycnoclavella stolonialis, Groix, South Brittany, 10 meters.Message posted on NE Atlantic Tunicata on 20 Apr 2012
Noriyuki Otani Please let me know the name of this sea squirt.
They are like Bluebell tunicates. But I feel them little bit different.
Size 1 cm in height, and 5 mm in width Photography place Oase, Mie, a Japan. Depth of 20 metersBlogie Robillo Not sure, but this could be the "light bulb tunicate" (Clavelina lepadiformis).
Noriyuki Otani Thank you. I love delicacy like the glasswork of this sea squirt.
Blogie Robillo Yes, it's very lovely!
Arne Kuilman I associate Clavelina lepadiformis more with the Mediterranean. Clavelina moluccensis is it's South-East Asian cousin (-;
Arne Kuilman Hmm, moluccensis is recognized by 2 particular spots. This might be Clavelina picta then. Also present in Japan.
Noriyuki Otani Thank you. We can see many subtropical marine life in Owase.
Message posted on ID Please (Marine Creature Identification) on 30 Sep 2012
David Kipling A whole group of them on the big boulders on the SW side of Skomer earlier this year ... there were square-metre patches of both white and golden versions covering the big boulders. Awesome. Look closely and you'll spot P. producta (transparent and no colour spots) mixed in with them ...Tony Gilbert Based on these images and your comments I came across some, and was able to identify them in the field. Many thanks for that! http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyjgilbert-images/7651704528/in/set-72157630764104272 These were located as described in Habitas, on a vertical facing wall in around 15m, just on the edge of strong tidal flows. This was on the corner between the Clan Macmaster and Calf Sound, in the Isle of Man. Better still, the image shows 3 types of sea squirts (at least), in this patch, with Pycnoclavella producta are also a couple of Clavelina lepadiformis and a nice bunch of Pycnoclavella aurilucens. I didn't manage too many shots as the tidal flow increased considerably and we were taken down the Sound after that!
David Kipling Yes, top left - white cross between siphons. Nice pics Tony!
Message posted on Seasearch Identifications on 10 Jul 2012