Herdmania pennata

Figure 17 Pyura pennata Monniot C. & Monniot F. 1991 Herdmania pennata (Monniot F. & Monniot C. 2003) Station: SPANBIOS: CP 5156, 1 specimen. The body (Fig. 17 A), 14 mm in diameter, is soft with a naked tunic with short spicules. The body wall and all internal organs contain verticill spindle-like spicules characteristic of the genus. There are three sizes of ramified oral tentacles. In addition to the siphon sphincters the body wall musculature consists of a few longitudinal ribbons issued from the oral and atrial siphons but which do not reach the ventral body side. Their design is the same as previously figured (Monniot C. & F. 1991 Fig. 28 A). The branchial sac (Fig. 17 B) has high folds, nine on the right side and eight plus one incomplete fold on the left side. The digestive loop is open; the hepatic gland has round papillae. There is a long gonad on each side (Fig. 17 B). The testis vesicles surround the tubular ovary. The long sperm duct running along the ovary has a distal opening as well as additional lateral openings on erect papillae (Monniot C. & Monniot F. 1991 Fig. 28 B). The oviduct opens in a wide terminal corolla. There are no endocarps. The anatomy of this single specimen corresponds to re-examined older samples of this species.