Microcosmus exasperatus

Microscosmus exasperatus is a species of tunicate in the family, Pyuridae, and was first described in 1878 by Camill Heller.[1][2]

Microcosmus exasperatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Tunicata
Class: Ascidiacea
Order: Stolidobranchia
Family: Pyuridae
Genus: Microcosmus
Species:
M. exasperatus
Binomial name
Microcosmus exasperatus
Heller, 1878

It is found in the warm, temperate and tropical seas[3] of Australia, where it is found on the coastal shelves of New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.[1] It is also found in seas off the West Indies, east Africa and in the Red Sea.[1] It has been found on many substrates including "pilings, stones, mangrove roots, and coral reefs, buoys, floats, and vessel hulls".[3]

It is an invasive species, and is now found in the central and eastern Mediterranean, and Pacific oceanic islands.[3] (The Smithsonian considers its native range to be the eastern and western tropical Atlantic, and the Indo-West Pacific.)[3]

This species is often confused with Microcosmus squamiger but has longer spines.[3] It feeds on phytoplankton.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Species Microcosmus exasperatus Heller, 1878". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Government. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  2. ^ Camill Heller (1878). "Beiträge zur nähern Kenntnis der Tunicaten". Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse (in German). 77 (1): 1-28 [17]. ISSN 0723-9319. Wikidata Q127657898.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Microcosmus exasperatus". invasions.si.edu. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
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