Pyura dalbyi, the yellow cunjevoi, is a species of tunicate
Distribution This species has been found in several localities in Victoria, south-eastern Australia,Dalby, J.E., Jr. (1997) Dimorphism in the ascidian Pyura stolonifera near Melbourne, Australia, and its evaluation through field transplant experiments. Marine Ecology, 18, 253–271. and in a single locality in Western Australia (Albany harbour).Rius, M. and Teske, P.R. (2011) A revision of the Pyura stolonifera species complex (Tunicata, Ascidiacea), with a description of a new species from Australia. Zootaxa 2754: 27-40 ; article available at: https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt02754p040.pdf Unlike other species of cunjevoi in temperate Australasia, P. dalbyi has been found almost exclusively subtidally.
Description Pyura dalbyi has a yellow, sand-free tunic, a highly conspicuous feature that readily distinguishes it from other species of cunjevoi in temperate Australasia.
Etymology Pyura dalbyi is named after Dr. James Edward Dalby Jr, who reported distributional, morphometric and ecological differences between this species and its congener P. praeputialis.
Taxonomy This species is a member of the "P. stolonifera species complex", a group of large ascidians that are often indiscriminately referred to as P. stolonifera in the literature. Genetic data indicate that it is only distantly related to the other two Australasian species in this species complex, P. praeputialis and P. doppelgangera.Teske, P.R. et al. (2011): Nested cryptic diversity in a widespread marine ecosystem engineer: a challenge for detecting biological invasions. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11:176 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-176; article available at: https://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/176
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