Savigny, 1816
Description
External appearance
Colonial, with zooids immersed. Colonies forming fleshy, flat-topped lobes rising from a common base. Each lobe with a common cloacal opening. Common test semi- transparent, yellow, grey or white.
Characters
Zooids about 10 mm in length; body divided into thorax, abdomen and post-abdomen. Oral siphon 8-lobed with three or four red pigmented spots at the base; atrial opening with languet . Branchial sac with seven to nine rows of nine to ten straight stigmata. Gut abdominal; stomach with 10-15 folds of various length. Gonads located in post-abdomen; ovary below intestinal loop; male follicles below ovary (S. turbinatum zooid).
Habitat
Attached to hard substrata; from lower shore down to about 200 meters;
Distribution
From Norway to the Mediterranean.