The Identification and Validity of Certain Species of Ascidians

Abstract

There has existed in the past, and still does exist, considerable confusion both in the question of a satisfactory basis for the classification of ascidians and that of the validity of many species. The principal orders and families are fairly stereotyped, and confusion and divergent opinion is mainly confined to the internal classification of the various families. These differences have a twofold origin, in that classifications have been constructed by various authors on three distinct bases, and that it is very difficult to distinguish between structures which are similar through relationship and those which are similar through convergent or parallel development. Further difficulty arises from the fact that authors describing a new species with a view to fitting it into one particular classification, have often given insufficient details for its accurate inclusion in another scheme. There is also divergent opinion as to the correct nomenclature that should be employed, but with that this paper is not concerned.