Dolioletta is a genus of tunicates in the family Doliolidae.
Characteristics Members of the genus Dolioletta are transparent, gelatinous barrel-shaped animals, usually less than one centimetre long. They move in jerks by contracting the circular bands of muscle in their body wall sharply.Dolioletta JelliesZone. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
Biology They have the complex life cycle typical of the doliolids, with alternating sexual and asexual phases. They use a net of mucus strands to efficiently trap phytoplankton floating past. They both grow fast and multiply rapidly and a single animal is capable of forming thousands of new individuals in a few days. They sometimes form dense swarms with up to 500 individuals per square metre.
Species The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species: Dolioletta chuni (Neumann, 1906) Dolioletta gegenbauri (Uljanin, 1884) Dolioletta mirabilis Korotneff, 1891 Dolioletta tritonis Herdman, 1888 Dolioletta valdiviae (Neumann, 1906)
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