102 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XIV, April I960 
records five of the Terra Nova species from 
southeastern Australian waters, namely, O. r fi- 
fes cens, 0. dioica, O. longicauda, Dolioletta 
gegenbauri, and Dolioluwi denticulatum . Thus, 
of the eight species recorded from the vicinity 
of New Zealand, two, D. mulleri and D. mira- 
hilis, have not been recorded from Australia. 
The remainder are widespread in tropical and 
subtropical waters, and are common to the two 
countries. 
The majority of tows of this present survey 
were in water of subantarctic origin in which 
fewer species occur (Thompson, 1942, 1948). 
However, further investigations in this water 
and a survey to the north of the subtropical 
convergence could not fail to be rewarding. 
OBSERVATIONS ON SYSTEMATICS OF SPECIES 
There is a long list of published literature on 
the complex systematics of the pelagic tunicata, 
and the following are representative: Ritter 
(1905), Salps, Doliolids, and Pyrosoma; Ritter 
and Byxbee (1905), Salps, Appendicular ia, 
Pyrosoma; Aida (1907), Copelata; Metcalf 
(1918) , Salpidae; Metcalf and Hopkins (1919), 
Pyrosoma; Essenberg ( 192.6*), Copelata; Gar- 
stang (1933), Doliolids; Garstang and George- 
son (1935), Copelata; Thompson (1948), 
Sewell (1953), Copelata, Pyrosoma, Salpidae, 
and Doliolida. For bibliographies on each group, 
see Thompson (1948) and Sewell (1953). In 
view of these extensive works only brief notes 
are provided for most species in the following 
account, and only that literature actually cited is 
appended to the species. 
Class I: COPELATA 
Family OIKOPLEURIDAE 
Genus Oikopleura Mertens 
Oikopleura fusiformis Fob 
Oikopleura fusiformis Aida, 1907; Essenberg, 
1926*/ Tokioka, 1940; Thompson, 1948 
Over 4,000 specimens were collected from 10 
hauls between Station 921 (51° 41' S.) and the 
south of Cook Strait (43° 15' S.), in January, 
1951. 
Characteristic features of the species are the 
long, slender fusiform body (Fig. 1) with 
straight, flat dorsal contour, and the long nar- 
row tail without subchordal cells. 
Specimens from four stations were measured 
and the data are presented in Table 1. 
Sizes and ratios of the New Zealand speci- 
mens are similar to those given by, for example, 
Essenberg (1926*) for California, Russell and 
Colman ( 1935 ) for the Great Barrier Reef, and 
Thompson (1948) for southeast Australian 
waters (see Table 2 ) . 
Tokioka (1940: 2-3) briefly discusses and 
illustrates the considerable variability of shape 
in the blind-sac of the left stomach. Similar 
variations appear characteristic of this organ in 
the New Zealand material. 
A feature of New Zealand specimens was the 
high proportion (in some catches all) of speci- 
mens without the oikoplast epithelium. Whether 
the epithelium usually is sloughed, along with 
the throwing off of the "house,” when specimens 
are captured, is not made dear by Essenberg 
(192 6b) in his discussion of the disintegration 
and decay of specimens. It is not invariably so, 
however, as on several occasions specimens 
without the house, but with the oikoplast epi- 
thelium intact, were collected. 
Oikopleura dioica Fob 
Oikopleura dioica Aida, 1907; Essenberg, 1926*; 
Tokioka, 1940; Thompson, 1948 
Specimens were collected from six stations, 
but occurrences were spasmodic. Stations 12, 21, 
32, 40, and 48 (numbers collected were esti- 
mated) constituted a continuous series of catches 
in early January in coastal waters. 
FIG. 1. Oikopleura fusiformis , a mature specimen 
of 0.9 mm. body length. 
