A colonial sea squirt described from Algoa Bay, South Africa, with swollen tips on branching stalks.
Slender upright stalks rise from an attached base and divide into terminal branches, each ending in a swollen thoracic region.
Inside the small body of Pycnoclavella narcissus are large openings in the pharyngeal wall. Thin longitudinal and transverse bands frame wide spaces arranged in four rows, forming a distinctive internal structure.
The 2005 description drew attention to the absence of the usual small, cilia-lined slits found in many shallow-water ascidians. Specimens collected in Algoa Bay during March 2002 showed large perforations instead.
The author compared these openings with those of many deep-sea ascidians. She also proposed that the orientation of the body and its apertures might allow surrounding currents to maintain water flow through the pharynx. This was a suggested explanation based on structure.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2022 SANParks report includes this species in the biological inventory of Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area. Pollution, habitat modification and invasive species are identified as regional conservation pressures. Repeated observations of its attachment sites and colony extent at historical localities and within the documented region could help reveal changes in this sea squirt.