Siphonosoma australe australe (Keferstein, 1865)
General description:
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Stephen and Edmonds, 1972).
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Sipuncula
Siphonosoma australe australe (Keferstein, 1865)
Siphonosoma australe australe (Keferstein, 1865)
General description:Well known species with countable LMBs visible through the trunk wall. Large, simple, dark hooks are characteristic of this species. Internally the simple contractile vessel and rectum differentiate it from its congeners.
Morphology:(Edmonds, 1980; Cutler, 1994; Stephen and Edmonds, 1972)
External anatomy
Introvert shorter than the trunk, with hooks simple, large, dark, pointed, 190-210 µm tall.
Trunk up to 200 mm in length.
Internal anatomy
15-20 longitudinal muscle bands (LMBs), often visible through the trunk wall.
A pair of ventral retractor muscles originates anterior to the pair of dorsal retractor muscles.
Contractile vessel simple without villi.
Rectum simple without numerous caecae.
Nephridia long and free.
Spindle muscle with up to 3 roots and attached to the posterior end of the trunk.
Size:Specimens up to 200 mm in length (Cutler, 1994).
Distribution:Zanzibar, Madagascar, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, northern Australia, New Zealand, and several western Pacific islands (Cutler, 1994).
Habitat:Collected in shallow water, in muddy and sandy habitats (Cutler, 1994).