A new species of photosymbiotic ascidian from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, with remarks on the stability of stigma number in photosymbiotic Diplosoma species.

Diplosoma variostigmatum sp. nov. is a photosymbiotic ascidian in the family Didemnidae. This species is characterized by the unique pattern of its stigma number, which is often variable within the same zooid, as well as within the same colony. The total number of stigmata per half branchial sac varies from 22 (five, six, six, and five stigmata from the top to bottom rows) to 27 (seven, seven, seven, and six). In contrast, the stigma patterns are constant in D. ooru, D. simile, D. simileguwa, and D. virens. Thus, the stigma number and its stability (or variability) seem to be important as characters for the taxonomy of the photosymbiotic Diplosoma species.