This book addresses the needs of professional and amateur taxonomists on the subject of ascidians in Asia. This is the first book of its kind and features color illustrations done by the authors in Asia. This book provides a brief overview of ascidians in addition to both the taxonomy and distribution of ascidians along India’s southern coast. It also opens a new arena for marine researchers in the field of ascidians in Asia. This book is the outcome of the authors’ 15 years of research experience in the field of ascidians, making it very helpful for researchers, coastal planners, port authorities and the proper management of coastal thermal plants and atomic power plants.

Ascidians are the invertebrate group that gave rise to vertebrates, thus the biology of ascidians provides an essential key to understanding both invertebrates and vertebrates. This book is the first to cover all areas of ascidian biology, including development, evolution, biologically active substances, heavy metal accumulation, asexual reproduction, host-defense mechanisms, allorecognition mechanisms, comparative immunology, neuroscience, taxonomy, ecology, genome science, and food science. The 69 articles that make up the collection were contributed by leading ascidiologists from all over the world who participated in the First International Symposium on the Biology of Ascidians, held in June 2000 in Sapporo, Japan. For scientists and students alike, the book is an invaluable source of information from the latest, most comprehensive studies of ascidian biology.

This pioneering study of marine life by Smithsonian researcher Willard Gibbs Van Name provides a comprehensive look at the complex world of compound ascidians found along the eastern coast of North America. With detailed illustrations, anatomical descriptions, and ecological analyses, this book offers a fascinating introduction to the diversity and intricacy of underwater creatures. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.