Botryllus schlosseri

Taxobox
name = Botryllus schlosseri

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image_caption=Tunicate colonies of "Didemnum sp." (left) and "Botryllus schlosseri" (right) overgrowing individuals of the tunicate "Styela clava".
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Urochordata
classis = Ascidiacea
ordo = Pleurogona
suborder = Stolidobranchia
familia = Botryllidae
genus = "Botryllus"
species = "B. schlosseri"
binomial = "Botryllus schlosseri"
synonyms = "Alcyonium schlosseri"Cite web|url=http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Botryllidae|title=Botryllidae-Wikispecies|accessdate=2007-02-17]
binomial_authority = (Pallas, 1766)

"Botryllus schlosseri", commonly known as the golden star tunicate, is an invasive, colonial ascidian tunicate that grows on slow-moving, submerged objects, plants, and animals in nearshore saltwater environments.

Its range has spread over the last 100 years to a nearly worldwide extent. Ranging in the western Atlantic ocean from the Bay of Fundy to North Carolina, this is "the most common colonial tunicate in North America."Cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1881652327&id=dq-iIBVn4_MC&dq=spiral+tufted+bryozoa|title=Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to New England |accessdate=2007-02-17|publisher=Aqua Quest Publications|year=2003|author=Andrew J. Martinez] This species can be distinguished from "Botrylloides sp." by the pattern of growth. "B. schlosseri" zooids emanate from a center in the manner of the arms of a star. Also, there usually are fewer zooids per cluster (5-8 in "B. schlosseri" and 10 or more in "Botrylloides").

External links

* http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/bis/tunicata.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=21

Notes