Dear all,
on a cruise in the central Sargasso Sea, I encountered numerous pyrosomes in the upper 100 m, which partly reached high abundances. Can somebody help with the species identification? I am not sure that the colour (quite divers) is really a good tracer for species and would appreciate any comments.
Best regards, Florian
Photo IDs are very difficult, but it looks like Pyrosoma atlanticum, which has a worldwide distribution. Large numbers of this species were observed along the US West Coast and Alaska this year. Here is a bit more infor:
Description Cylindrical colony with tough consistency; characteristically provided with numerous longer or shorter truncate test processes, tapering into an acanthose, backwards pointing tip. Open end of colony with a tight diaphragm. Zooids tightly packed, rounded in shape, sometimes more angular or even triangular with a broad oral part of the branchial basket. Length of zooid up to 8.5 mm. Sexually mature zooids are found in colonies of 4-6 cm length onwards.
Colour Pink or yellowish pink; colonial wall opaque.
Size Length of colony up to 60 cm and 4-6 cm thick.
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