Molgula oculata; a) branchial orifice; b) atrial orifice
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Subphylum:
Tunicata
Class:
Ascidiacea
Order:
Stolidobranchia
Family:
Molgulidae
Genus:
Molgula
Synonyms[1]
Anurella Lacaze-Duthiers, 1877
Ascopera Herdman, 1881
Astropera Pizon, 1898
Caesira Flemming, 1822
Ctenicella Lacaze-Duthiers, 1877
Cystingia Macleay, 1825
Eugyriopsis Roule, 1885
Euritteria Huntsman, 1922
Gymnocystis Giard, 1872
Lithonephria Giard, 1872 (misspelling)
Lithonephrya Giard, 1872
Meristocarpus Pizon, 1899
Mogula Kirkpatrick, 1905 (misspelling)
Molgulidium Seeliger, 1907
Molgulina Hartmeyer, 1914
Pera Stimpson, 1852
Syphonotethis Gervais, 1840
Xenomolgula Arnback, 1931
Molgula, or sea grapes, are very common, globular, individual marine tunicates roughly the size of grapes.[1]
They are translucent with two protruding siphons. They are found subtidally, attached to slow-moving submerged objects or organisms. All species of Molgula have a fluid-filled structure called the renal sac.[2] The renal sac contains nitrogenous wastes, solid concretions composed of weddellite and calcite,[3] and an apicomplexan symbiont called Nephromyces.[4]
In the western Atlantic Ocean, they range from the Arctic to North Carolina, to the center of the United States Eastern Seaboard.[5]
^ abSanamyan, K.; Monniot, C. (2012). Molgula Forbes, 1848. In: Noa Shenkar, Arjan Gittenberger, Gretchen Lambert, Marc Rius, Rosana Moreira Da Rocha, Billie J. Swalla, Xavier Turon (2012) Ascidiacea World Database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=103509 on 2012-02-26
^Van Name, Willard Gibbs (1945). "The North and South American ascidians". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 84. hdl:2246/1186.
^Saffo, Mary Beth; Lowenstam, Heinz A. (1978-06-09). "Calcareous Deposits in the Renal Sac of a Molgulid Tunicate". Science. 200 (4346): 1166–1168. doi:10.1126/science.200.4346.1166. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17745108. S2CID 33253067.
^"Malaria, Sea Grapes, and Kidney Stones: A Tale of Parasites Lost - The Loom". The Loom. 2010-08-24. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
^Andrew J. Martinez (2003). Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to New England. Aqua Quest Publications. ISBN 9781881652328. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
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Molgula occulta is a species of solitary tunicate in the family Molgulidae. It is native to the north eastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean...
Molgula occidentalis is a species of marine invertebrate of the family Molgulidae. The scientific name of the species was validated and published for...
Molgula oculata, commonly known as the sea grape, is a species of solitary tunicate in the family Molgulidae. It is native to the north eastern Atlantic...
Nephromyces is a genus of apicomplexans that are symbionts of the ascidian genus Molgula (sea grapes). Nephromyces was first described in 1888 by Alfred Mathieu...
doi:10.1002/jez.b.22940. ISSN 1552-5015. PMID 32190983. S2CID 213181394. Molgula pugetiensis is a Pacific tailless ascidian within the Roscovita clade of...
from the genus of Streptomyces which has been isolated from the tunicate Molgula manhattensis from the Tokyo Bay on Japan. List of Streptomyces species...
rhinophores and gills. Okenia leachii probably feeds on tunicates such as Molgula occulta, family Molgulidae which live buried in muddy sand seabeds. Alder...
tentacles, rhinophores and gills. Okenia aspersa feeds on the tunicate Molgula occulta, family Molgulidae which lives buried in muddy sand seabeds. Alder...
Filomena (December 2017). "Evolutionary loss of melanogenesis in the tunicate Molgula occulta". EvoDevo. 8 (1): 11. doi:10.1186/s13227-017-0074-x. ISSN 2041-9139...
corona also feeds on the common solitary sea squirts Styela plicata and Molgula occidentalis. Melongena corona is known to be prey of the Florida horse...
der Gattungen Microcosmus, Cynthia, Styela, Polycarpa, Gymnocystis und Molgula by Robert Hartmeyer - 37 pages 1914 - Ascidier by Robert Hartmeyer - 1117...
gravel, which is in contrast to the rather similar Molgula occulta which favours muddy sediments and Molgula oculata which is found among coarser material...
distinguish it in European waters from the fairly similar sea grapes (Molgula spp), which have an S-shaped gut. Corella eumyota is native to the waters...
Flexopecten felipponei. It has also been found in a tunicate of the genus Molgula, in the tubes of the tubeworm Chaetopterus variopedatus and on the asteroid...
several species of host tunicate including Styela plicata, Phallusia nigra, Molgula occidentalis and Polycarpa spongiabilis. Usually, a single crab occupies...
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