Pharyngodictyon magnifili

Figure 1 Stations: SPANBIOS: CP 5217: 4 specimens. CP 5237: 1 specimen. The largest specimen has a spherical head 15 mm in diameter on a narrow peduncle 20 mm long (Fig. 1 A). The tunic is vitreous with some encrusted sand. The apertures cannot be seen, and all zooids are contracted. Thoraces and abdomens are located in the head and the long post-abdomens extend inside the peduncle. The oral tentacles are thin, long, protruding out of the siphon (Fig. 1 B). The branchial tissue has at least seven transverse bars with triangular dorsal languets. The stomach is elongated with longitudinal folds (Fig. 1 B). The ovary is anterior to a clump of testis lobes. In one zooid two immature embryos are incubated in the thoracic cavity (Fig. 1 B). One tadpole (Fig. 1 C) was found free inside the colony head. It has three adhesive papillae in a line circled by very numerous ramified vesicles (Fig. 1 C). Sensitive organs cannot be clearly seen. All characters of the SPANBIOS specimens well correspond to those already described from New Caledonia and figured in Monniot C. & Monniot F. 1991 (Figs 7 F; 10).