|
|
Family: Polycitoridae
[Eudistoma olivacea (Van Name, 1902)] |
Bocas Species Database Habitat: In mangrove roots and coral reef in Bocas del Toro. Recently was found in a float. Distribution: Panama, many Caribbean islands, Bermudas, one record in the Pacific Ocean and one in Senegal. Depth: 0.1-6.0 m Characteristics: Yellowish colonies are formed of numerous small circular heads, whose peduncles unite into a basal mass that attaches the colony to the substrate. The zooid is yellow or slightly brown and has two dark dots, one on the nervous ganglion and one on the anterior end of the endostyle. The zooids do not share a cloacal opening. The zooids have two body parts with a very elongated abdomen. In the thorax there are three rows of stigmata, large dorsal languets, and ten simple oral tentacles. The stomach is smooth, and the gonads are located inside the intestinal loop. The zooids also have a stolonic vessel located at the base of the abdomen which is used for communication between the zooids in the colony. |