Polysyncraton purou C. Monniot & F. Monniot 1987

Polysyncraton purou C. Monniot & F. Monniot, 1987 Fig. 10 Polysyncraton purou C. Monniot & F. Monniot, 1987: 49, fig. 16d–h, pl. 3i. Polysyncraton purou – F. Monniot 1993: 11. — Kott 2001: 126, figs 60, 162C, pl. 6F; 2002: 33, fig. 12A– D; 2005: 2436, fig. 19D. Material examined TANZANIA • 3 slides; MNHN A2-843, MNHN A2-846, MNHN A2-847. Remarks This species was described from French Polynesia by C. Monniot & F. Monniot (1987). All the characteristics of the specimens from Tanzania correspond to those in the original description (Fig. 10), thus enlarging the known distribution of this species. Monniot & Monniot (2001) described P. vestiens from Palau as a different species from P. purou based on the smaller spicules, a wider atrial aperture and the absence of the muscular process in P. vestiens. However, in the specimens from Tanzania there is a variation in the size of the spicules and they are smaller (43 to 55 µm) than in specimens from Tahiti. The muscular process in P. purou is very small and not visible in some zooids (Fig. 10 a–b). Since the size of the atrial aperture is also a variable character that depends on the contraction of the zooid, there is doubt as to whether P. vestiens is a valid species. Distribution Type locality: French Polynesia (C. Monniot & F. Monniot 1987). Australia (Kott 2001), New Caledonia (F. Monniot 1993) and Tanzania (this study).Published as part of Oliveira, Livia M., Hoeksema, Bert W. & Rocha, Rosana M., 2019, Polysyncraton (Ascidiacea, Didemnidae): a re-examination of some specimens and descriptions of three new species, pp. 1-25 in European Journal of Taxonomy 519 on page 17, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2019.519, http://zenodo.org/record/265011