Pyura praeputialis (Heller 1878)

Pyura praeputialis is an intertidal and shallow water species of tunicate. It is one of three species of "cunjevoi" in Australasia (the other two being the yellow cunjevoi P. dalbyi and the doppelganger cunjevoi P. doppelgangera). It is the first reported species of marine organism to create a "foam-nest" for its larvae.^[2]

Distribution

Pyura praeputialis is common in coastal areas of the Australian mainland and ranges from southern Queensland to Cape Otway in Victoria. It is a non-indigenous species in Antofagasta, Chile.^[3]

This species is an ecosystem engineer that can drastically alter habitats by overgrowing other sessile marine invertebrates. This makes it a likely problem species when introduced to new habitats. However, the positive impacts it can have are shelter for juveniles that are being hunted, protection from desiccation, beneficial interactions between organisms, and coexistence of other species. ^[4]

Taxonomy

This species is part of the "P. stolonifera species complex", a group of large tunicates that are all often referred to as P. stolonifera (a species endemic to temperate southern Africa).^[3] It is also sometimes called "P. stolonifera praeputialis". Compared to other species in the species complex that have onion-shaped bodies, P. praeputialis is taller, cylindrical in shape and often has a greater diameter at the top than at the base.^[3]

A dense aggregation of Pyura praeputialis on a rock platform in Balmoral, Sydney Harbour

References

Pyura praeputialis est Urochordatorum familiae Pyuridarum species quae inter marinorum aestuum accessum et recessum vel in aquis humilibus summersa crescit. Ea est prima organismi marini species nota quae "nidum spumosum" pro larvis gignit.^[1]

Notae

Nexus externi

Vicimedia Communia plura habent quae ad Pyuram praeputialem spectant.

Pyura praeputialis is een zakpijpensoort uit de familie van de Pyuridae.^[1] De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1878 door Heller.