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Family: Pyuridae
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Bocas Species Database Habitat: Found both on mangrove roots and on coral reefs in Bocas del Toro. Also was collected in artificial substrates. Distribution: North Carolina, Florida, Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Guadaloupe, Martinica, Curaçao, Bonaire, Panama, Colombia, Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, France, Senegal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Palao Is., Australia, New Caledonia. Depth: 0.5-1.0 m Characteristics: Individuals (3.0-6.0 cm long) have a leathery and brown tunic, sometimes with a peduncle. The opaque tunic is covered with epibionts. Siphons have four distinguished lobes forming a cross-like aperture. Oral siphon with approximately 20 branched tentacles. It has a U shaped dorsal tubercle and the pharynx has six folds in each side. Each individual has one gonad per side, its left gonad within the intestinal loop and the right gonad forming a curve or an angle at one third from the aperture. The gonad is formed by numerous pockets arranged along the gonoduct. |