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Describe the blood vascular system of Herdmania.

seo-qna
Last updated date: 13th Jun 2024
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Answer
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Hint: Ascidiacea, also known as ascidians, tunicates, and sea squirts, is a polyphyletic class of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders in the subphylum Tunicata. Ascidians have a polysaccharide "tunic" that protects them from the elements.

Complete answer:
Herdmania is a filter-feeding tunicate that lives in marine habitats. The animal is frequently seen in the gregarious form. With a length of 6-13 cm, the body has a flat purse-like structure. The width ranges from 4 to 7 cm. Brownish in color. By foot, the animal is completely buried in the sand. The atrial and branchial siphons are two projections from the body proper.
A branchial siphon has an aperture or mouth that is branchial or incurrent. The atrial siphon has a cloaca or atrial or excurrent aperture. Four lobes, or lips, surround each aperture. A thick leathery and translucent Tunic or test covers the entire body. Wrinkled is the same. It is made up of tunicin, which is a cellulose-like organic substance.
Blood circulation can be observed throughout the tunicate's body. Blood leaves the anterior end of the heart via two vessels that supply the branchial basket on both sides. The blood then flows into ducts containing the stigmata via transverse tubes.
Herdmania's circulatory system includes the heart and pericardium, as well as blood vessels and blood. A light reddish vacuole and transparent, colorless plasma, as well as many pigmented and non-pigmented corpuscles and a few colorless amoeboid leukocytes, are present in the blood.
A tubular, elongated pericardium with a thick non-contractile wall lies beneath the right gonad. A thin connective tissue flap runs the length of the heart, connecting it to the pericardium. True blood vessels are absent in the majority of ascidians, but they are well developed in Herdmania.

Note:
Herdmania is a ciliary feeder or a filter feeder. The digestive tract is finished. There are liver and pyloric glands present. The branchial sac assists in respiration. Water enters the body through the branchial aperture in the mouth and passes through the pharynx, where food is picked up. It exits through the atrial aperture. Cilia lining the gill slits keep the current flowing. The current of water also aids in gaseous exchange.