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the web of life in southern Africa

Genus: Cyclosalpa

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Tunicata > Thaliacea > Salpida > Family: Salpidae

Ten species worldwide, nine of which have wide pelagic distributions that include the southern African seas.

Species native to southern Africa

Information from van Soest (1974), World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and references as cited.

Cyclosalpa affinis

Occurs in parts of all oceans.

 

Cyclosalpa bakeri

Widely distributed in all three oceans from at least 45°N to 40°S (van Soest 1974).

 

Cyclosalpa floridana

Circum-(sub)tropical. Recorded off the east coast of southern Africa by van Soest (1974).

 

Cyclosalpa foxtoni

Circum-(sub)tropical. Recorded off the east coast of southern Africa by van Soest (1974).

 

Cyclosalpa ihlei

Indo-Pacific. Recorded off the east coast of southern Africa by van Soest (1974).

 

Cyclosalpa pinnata

Atlantic, Mediterranean. Recorded from the southwest coast of South Africa by Lazarus & Dowler (1979).

 

Cyclosalpa polae

Circum-(sub)tropical. Recorded from the Benguela Current region by Gibbons (1999). Recorded off the east coast of southern Africa by van Soest (1974).

 

Cyclosalpa quadriluminis

Indo-Pacific, except for the northeastern part. Particularly numerous in the western Indian Ocean (van Soest 1974) indicating that it probably does occur off the east coast of southern Africa, although there are no specific records.

 

Cyclosalpa sewelli

Indo-Pacific. Recorded off the east coast of southern Africa by van Soest (1974).

 

Publications

  • Gibbons MJ. 1999. An introduction to the zooplankton of the Benguela Current region. National Book Publishers, Cape Town.
  • Lazarus, B. I. and D. Dowler. 1979. Pelagic tunicata off the west and south-west coasts of South Africa, 1964-1965. Fish. Bull. S. Afr. 12:93-119.
  • van Soest RWM. 1974. Taxonomy of the subfamily Cyclosalpinae Yount, 1954 (Tunicata, Thaliacea), with descriptions of two new species. Beaufortia 22(288): 17-55.

Text by Hamish Robertson