An annotated checklist of Thaliaceans (Chordata: Tunicates)

A checklist of the Class Thaliacea is presented after an extensive literature review. Synonymies, type locality, diagnostic characters of different life cycle stages and a summary of worldwide distribution are presented for the maximum number of available species possible. A total of 106 species names are listed, and among them, 81 species in 25 genera and 2 subgenera are treated as valid while the other 25 are treated as species inquirendum. An additional 184 names are treated as synonymies of 52 species. Among the 81 valid thaliacean species, 17 belong to the Doliolidae family, 3 to the Doliopsoididae, 1 to the Doliolunidae, 3 to the Doliopsidae, 1 to the Paradoliopsidae, 48 to the Salpidae and 8 to the family Pyrosomatidae.