The identity of the ascidians Styela mammiculata Carlisle and S. clava Herdman

Carlisle (1954) described Styela mammiculata, a new species of stalked ascidian from the Plymouth area, and suggested that it had been brought into British waters, probably with oysters. Its recent discovery on other parts of the south coast of England (Houghton & Millar, 1960) supports the idea that it is an introduced species which is now spreading through a favourable environment. It is well, therefore, to consider whether this may not be a species known from another part of the world. Tokioka (1955) examined one of Carlisle's specimens and suggested that it fell within the range of variation of S. clava Herdman. As many specimens of S.mammiculata are now available, a more extensive comparison has been made and is reported in this paper.