Vol. 50 No. 6, 2011

The Ascidiidae (Ascidiacea: Tunicata) of Coastal Brazil

Nadia Yukiji Koto Bonnet¹ and Rosana Moreira da Rocha^2,*

¹Graduate Program in Zoology, Univ. Federal do Paraná, CP 19020, 81.531-980, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
²Departamento de Zoologia, Univ. Federal do Paraná, CP 19020, 81.531-980, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

Nadia Yukiji Koto Bonnet and Rosana Moreira da Rocha (2011) The Brazilian Ascidiidae comprise 7 species: Phallusia nigra, P. recifensis, Ascidia curvata, A. interrupta, A. multitentaculata, A. santosi, and A. sydneiensis. In this study, we report a Caribbean species (A. tenue) and a Pacific species (A. cf. tapuni) in coastal Brazil, and we describe 3 new species. We also provide a complementary description of the type specimen of A. santosi and an identification key for Brazilian species.

Key words: Ascidian, Biodiversity, Introduced species, Taxonomy, Tunicate.

*Correspondence: Tel: 55-41-33611642. Fax: 55-41-32662042. E-mail:rmrocha@ufpr.br