Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „Polyandrocarpa zorritensis“

The stolidobranch ascidian Polyandrocarpa zorritensis was detected, for the third time in the Mediterranean, in the harbour of Taranto (South Italy). Colonies develop vigorously on all hard substrata in shallow water and now represent one of the most important elements of the local fouling community. In this article specimens of the Mediterranean populations of the species are described. The morphology of the larva, which differs from that of other Polyzoinae, and a vascular budding mechanism of replication, similar to that known to occur in the Botryllinae, were both observed for the first time.

A total of 25 species of ascidians were collected in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto, a semi-enclosed Mediterranean basin. Three are non-indigenous for the Mediterranean Sea: Microcosmus squamiger, Polyandrocarpa zorritensis and Distaplia bermudensis. The substrate features, season and depth affect the distribution of ascidians in the study area. Some species, such as Pyura dura and Pyura microcosmus, were found only on artificial substrates, while Ascidiella aspersa was almost exclusively recovered on natural bottoms. Seasonal variation in the ascidian distribution and abundance seems to be due mainly to their biological cycles, larval recruitment and adaptation. During the autumn and winter the most abundant species were Clavelina phlegraea and Ciona intestinalis, while A.aspersa was particularly abundant during spring. Depth and more directly light intensity play an important role in ascidian distribution. In the upper few metres the shallow-water species Polyandrocarpa zorritensis was abundant due to its photopositive larvae. Even though the distribution and abundance changed significantly between substrates, seasons and depths, the most abundant species in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto were Clavelina phlegraea, Ciona intestinalis and Styela plicata all of which are able to tolerate the variations in environmental conditions, low rate of water renewal and continuous silting of this semi-enclosed sea. Assuming the role that the above mentioned species have as marine pollution indicators and the abundance recorded for some of them, a high degree of environmental stress can be confirmed for the Mar Piccolo of Taranto. A comparative list of the ascidians recorded in this and previous studies is also reported.

Abstract How deep-sea fauna evolved is a question still being investigated. One of the most accepted theories is that shallow water organisms migrated to deeper waters and gave origin to the deep-sea communities. However, many organisms are prevented from performing long vertical migrations by the increasing hydrostatic pressure. Tadpole larvae of the ascidian Polyandrocarpa zorritensis were submitted to pressure treatments of 1, 50, 100 and 200 atm. Survival, settlement and metamorphosis rates were verified after 24 hour incubation in a pressure chamber. The majority of larvae settled (84%, 62%, 83% and 77% respectively) and successfully underwent metamorphosis (93%, 59%, 85% and 60%) in all pressure treatments. Larval mortality was of less than 15% in all treatments, except for the 50 atm treatment, which presented 38% mortality. Nearly 100% of the surviving larvae underwent metamorphosis in the treatments of 1, 50 and 100 atm. However, 1/3 of the individuals were still in their larval stages in the 200 atm treatment and presented delayed development. These data suggest that ascidian larvae can withstand the hydrostatic pressure levels found in the deep-sea. It is therefore feasible that the current abyssal ascidian species may have colonized the deep-sea through vertical migration and in only a few generations.

The tunicate ascidians are nonvertebrate chordates that possess mechanoreceptor cells in the coronal organ in the oral siphon, which monitor the incoming water flow. Like vertebrate hair cells, the mechanoreceptor–coronal cells are secondary sensory (axonless) cells accompanied by supporting cells and they exhibit morphological diversities of apical specialisations: they are multiciliate in ascidians of the order Enterogona, whereas they are more complex and possess one or two cilia accompanied by stereovilli, also graded in length, in ascidians of the order Pleurogona. In morphology, embryonic origin, and arrangement, coronal sensory cells closely resemble vertebrate hair cells. We describe here the coronal organs of five ascidians ( Pyura haustor (Stimpson, 1864), Pyura stolonifera (Heller, 1878), Styela gibbsii (Stimpson, 1864), Styela montereyensis (Dall, 1872), and Polyandrocarpa zorritensis (Van Name, 1931)), belonging to Pleurogona, also comprising species of one family (Pyuridae), not yet considered, and thus completing our overview of the order. Each species possesses at least two kinds of secondary sensory cells, some of them characterized by stereovilli graded in length. In some species, the coronal sensory cells exhibit secretory activity; in P. haustor, a mitotic sensory cell has also been found. We compare the coronal organ in both ascidians and with other chordate sensory organs formed of secondary sensory cells, and discuss their possible homologies.

Non-native ascidians have long dominated the artificial structures in southern California’s (United States) marinas and harbors. To determine the change in ascidian abundance and community composition over the last several decades, in 2019–2020 we replicated surveys from 1994–2000. We then created nMDS plots using the abundance data collected in the 1994–2000 and 2019–2020 surveys to compare the two groups. Range and average abundance per species were analyzed to determine trends and changes in ascidian community composition. Of the species used for comparison, four are native, three are cryptogenic, and 12 are non-native. As predicted by Lambert and Lambert, non-native species have persisted in southern California; however, ranges and abundances have changed. The only native species found consistently in both sets of surveys, Ascidia ceratodes, remained rare in 2019–2020, with an unchanged average abundance. Several non-native species increased in abundance or remained common. The non-native colonial species Polyandrocarpa zorritensis had the greatest influence on the dissimilarity between the surveys, increasing from rare in 1994–2000 to more common in 2019–2020, and spreading north to Santa Barbara. Several non-native species confined to San Diego in the 1994–2000 surveys have also spread north, such as Botrylloides giganteus and Styela canopus which were found in Santa Barbara in 2019–2020. A formerly unidentified Aplidium sp. has now been identified as the non-native Aplidium accarense. There have also been additional introductions since 2000, including Ascidia cf. virginea and the first report of Ascidiella aspersa in the NE Pacific. The overwhelming trends of the surveys indicate that we will continue to see an increase and persistence of newly introduced non-natives in Southern California marinas, with possible continued northward expansion.

Les tuniciers coloniaux peuvent générer un nouveau corps par reproduction asexuée et par la régénération entière du corps, deux formes de développement non-embryonnaire (DNE). Les différents modes de DNE sont définis en fonction de la nature des tissus organogénétiques. Curieusement, cette capacité est dispersée au sein du sous-phylum, qui contient des espèces capables de DNE (colonial) proches phylogénétiquement d’espèces ou les capacités régénératives sont absentes ou réduites (solitaire). Cela suggère que le DNE a été acquis et perdu plusieurs fois au sein du groupe. L’espèce coloniale Polyandrocarpa zorritensis semble avoir indépendamment acquis la capacité de DNE. Au cours de ma thèse, j’ai caractérisé le DNE dans cette espèce, en identifiant les étapes de DNE en conditions de laboratoire ainsi que les tissus et cellules mises en jeu. J’ai mis en évidence la participation des cellules mesenchymales et de l’épithélium vasculaire dans ce type de DNE. Ça n’a été pas décrit auparavant, et nous avons décidé de l’appeler ‘bourgeonnement vasale’. J’ai observé des cellules mesenchymales non-différenciées se regrouper et proliférer au point de régénération. J’ai décrit les cellules mesenchymales, en identifiant dans les cellules qui prolifèrent un morphotype non-différencié, les hémoblastes, aussi connues comme étant des cellules-souches putatives chez d’autres ascidies coloniales. De plus, j’ai défini la présence d’une étape de quiescence, la sphérule, dans le cycle de vie de P. zorritensis et j’ai caractérisé les variables environnementales et les mécanismes moléculaires mis en jeu dans la quiescence de cette espèce et dans une espèce éloignée, Clavelina lepadiformis
Colonial tunicates can generate a new adult body by asexual reproduction and whole body regeneration, two forms of non-embryonic development (NED). Different modes of NED are defined depending on the nature of the organogenetic tissues. Interestingly, this capacity is scattered across the sub-phylum, with species able of NED (colonial) closely related to species where regenerative capabilities are absent or reduced (solitary). This suggests that NED has been acquired or lost several times among the group. In recent phylogeny of family Styelidae, the colonial species Polyandrocarpa zorritensis seems to have acquired independently the capability of NED. During my PhD, I characterized the NED in this species, identifying the stages of NED under laboratory conditions and the tissues/cells involved. By histological and ultrastructural analyses, I highlighted the participation to NED of vascular epithelium and mesenchymal cells. This type of NED was undescribed before, and we decided to call it “vasal budding”. During the early stages of vasal budding I observed undifferentiated mesenchymal cells cluster and proliferate at the regenerative point; their distribution varies during vasal budding, increasing in the developing areas. I described the mesenchymal cells, identifying in the proliferating cells an undifferentiated morphotype, the hemoblasts, known as putative stem cells in other colonial ascidian. In addition, I defined the presence of a dormant stage, the spherule, in the life cycle of P. zorritensis and I characterized the environmental variable and the molecular mechanisms involved in dormancy in this species and in a distantly related species, Clavelina lepadiformis