Thalia democratica

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

Description

Distribution and habitat

Semi-cosmopolitan in temperate to tropical waters. Recorded from the southwest coast of South Africa by Lazarus & Dowler (1979). Recorded from the Benguela Current region by Gibbons (1999) and van Soest (1973) shows records from the south and east coasts of southern Africa.

Publications (by date)

• van Soest RWM. 1973. The genus Thalia Blumenbach, 1798 (Tunicata, Thaliacea), with descriptions of two new species. Beaufortia 271(20): 193-212.
• Gibbons MJ. 1997. Vertical distribution and feeding of Thalia democratica on the Agulhas Bank during March 1994. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 77(2): 493-505. Diel vertical migration (DVM) and in situ feeding of Thalia democratica (Tunicata: Thaliacea) was studied in the field (Agulhas Bank, South Africa) over a 48 h period in March 1994. Thalia democratica did not display DVM, and both aggregates and solitaires were mostly confined to the upper layers of the water column throughout the study period. Thalia democratica did not display any discernible diel feeding rhythm, and pigment content increased with salp size. Individuals with greatest pigment content were found at the chlorophyll maximum. Estimates of grazing impact varied with salp abundance and gut passage time, ranging from less than 1% to greater than 100% of phytoplankton productivity.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.
• Gibbons MJ. 1999. An introduction to the zooplankton of the Benguela Current region. National Book Publishers, Cape Town.
• Vargas CA, Madin LP. 2004. Zooplankton feeding ecology: clearance and ingestion rates of the salps Thalia democratica, Cyclosalpa affinis and Salpa cylindrica on naturally occurring particles in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Journal of Plankton Research 26(7): 827-833.
• Boldrin F, Martinucci G, Holland LZ, Miller RL, Burighel P. 2009. Internal fertilization in the salp Thalia democratica. Canadian Journal of Zoology 87(10): 928-940. doi: 10.1139/Z09-083
• Everett JD, Baird ME, Suthers IM. 2011. Three-dimensional structure of a swarm of the salp Thalia democratica within a cold-core eddy off southeast Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research 116: C12046.  doi:10.1029/2011JC007310

Text by Hamish Robertson