----- Original Message -----
From: Gibreel Sharaf <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 12:05 PM
Subject: phallusia nigra
> Dear Tunicata scientists
>
> I need the name of a reference that has figures and description of
> Phallusia nigra. My regards and best wishes to you all.
>
> Gibreel
>Dear Gibreel,
Karen Saranyan has already sent you several references about P. nigra and I
am following up on that.
My researches in the literature indicate that the only description written
since Savigny's paper of 1816 is that by M.P.A. Traustedt in his 1882 paper
"Westindiske Ascidiae simplices 1. Phallusidae
(Meddel.nat.Foren Kjobenhavn.,Ann. 1881pp.257-288
If you are working with populations of this species from the Red Sea it
would be of particular interest if you could make detailed comparisons with
specimens from the Western Atlantic to determine if they are really the same
species. Ideally we need molecular comparisons to confirm morphological
analyses. The distribution of the species is very strange with populations
separated by the width of the Atlantic Ocean. Passive transport of larvae in
ocean currents is unlikely because of the time factor involved but maybe
adults hitched a ride on slave ships travelling from West Africa to Brazil
from where it might have spread to the Caribbean. It would be an interesting
project and a challenge for someone with the time and energy to pursue this
taxonomic and zoogeographical puzzle.
Regards,
IVAN GOODBODY
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