Nephtheis

Nephtheis fascicularis, commonly called the lollipop tunicate, lollipop coral, or blue palm coral, is a species of tunicate that is native to the shallow reefs of Indonesia. It is the only species in its genus Nephtheis. They are not photosynthetic, and live on plankton and small organic particles obtained from the water currents. The branched stems are formed by tiny polyps called zooids. Despite their name and appearance, they and other sea squirts are unrelated to true corals.

Nephtheis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Tunicata
Class:	Ascidiacea
Order:	Aplousobranchia
Family:	Clavelinidae
Genus:	Nephtheis Gould, 1856[1]
Species:	N. fascicularis
Binomial name
Nephtheis fascicularis (Drasche, 1882)[2]
Synonyms[3][4]
Genus synonymy Oxycorynia Drasche, 1882 Species synonymy Colella thompsoni Herdman, 1886 Colella thomsoni Herdman, 1886 Nephtheis centripetens Sluiter, 1909 Nephtheis faciformis Sluiter, 1909 Nephtheis fascularis (Drasche, 1882) Nephtheis malayensis Sluiter, 1909 Nephtheis thompsoni (Herdman, 1886) Nephtheis thomsoni (Herdman, 1886) Oxycorynia fascicularis Drasche, 1882 Oxycorynia thompsoni (Herdman, 1886)

References

1. Sanamyan, K. (2013). Shenkar N, Gittenberger A, Lambert G, Rius M, Moreira Da Rocha R, Swalla BJ, Turon X (eds.). "Nephtheis Gould, 1856". Ascidiacea World Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
2. Gittenberger, A., Sanamyan, K. (2013). Shenkar N, Gittenberger A, Lambert G, Rius M, Moreira Da Rocha R, Swalla BJ, Turon X (eds.). "Nephtheis fascicularis (Drasche, 1882)". Ascidiacea World Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
3. "Nephtheis". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
4. "Nephtheis fascicularis". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 13 November 2021.