Eusynstyela tincta

One colony incrusting a mass of barnacles contains a dozen of zooids at different stages of development. The surface tunic is thick, wrinkled and brown in formalin. The basal layer is colourless and transparent. The zooids are dorso-ventrally flattened with the body not strongly adhering to the tunic except at the level of the siphons and at the gonads. The polycarps are located in a peduncle of the body wall which penetrates into the basal tunic. The distinctive anatomical characters of this common species are the 4 branchial folds / side and one longitudinal vessel in the spaces between them, the long stomach with a dozen folds and a small caecum, a smooth edged anus, numerous endocarps, and a few polycarps on each side made of a globular ovary and a testis in 2 elongated vesicles. Often recorded, E. tincta described from Bermuda has been collected in several parts of the Caribbean area and along the Brazilian coast (Rocha & Costa 2005 and synonymy).