A review of pygal-furrowed Synallactidae (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), with new species from the Antarctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Author
O'Loughlin, P. Mark
Author
Ahearn, Cynthia
text
Memoirs of Museum Victoria
2005
2005-12-31
62
2
147
179
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/collections-research/journals/memoirs-of-museum-victoria/volume-62-issue-2-2005/pages-147-179/
journal article
10.24199/j.mmv.2005.62.5
1447-2554
12208025
Pseudostichopus elegans
(
Koehler and Vaney, 1905
)
comb. nov.
Figures 9c
,
11c, d
Filithuria elegans
Koehler and Vaney, 1905: 81
, pl. 6 figs 1, 2, pl.
12 figs 29–31.—
Heding, 1940: 357
, 362–363, fig. 18.
Material examined
. NE Pacific Ocean, off
Oregon
,
3021 m
,
USNM
E16815 (1); 1008097 (3);
2510 m
,
USNM
E16505 (3);
NMV
F97447 (1);
2884 m
,
USNM
E16497 (1);
2710 m
, E16490 (4);
NMV
F97446 (1).
Description
. Up to
145 mm
long; elongate, subcylindrical, tapering anteriorly and posteriorly, flat ventrally, high convex dorsally, sometimes brim weakly developed; body wall thick, leathery, firm thin outer layer, soft thin semi-gelatinous inner layer; surface smooth dorsally and laterally, rugose ventrally; paired radii with double series of long tapering papillae, very thin distally, longest in upper dorsolateral series, up to
22 mm
long, smaller in lower dorsolateral and double ventrolateral series; small tube feet all over body, up to
0.5 mm
long,
0.3 mm
diameter; ossicles in tentacles, papillae, tube feet; tentacle ossicles abundant tapering rods, long to short, thick to thin, with or lacking central thickening, rare short branching, spinous or smooth, up to 490 µm long; large dorsal papillae with rods similar to tentacles, some more sharply and abundantly spinous, shorter, up to 260 µm long; small papillae and tube feet with thick to thin rods, many with central swelling, bluntly spinous or smooth, short, up to 160 µm long.
Colour
. Body violet-brown to reddish-brown to off-white; gonad tubules and respiratory trees pale brown; longitudinal muscles chocolate to reddish-brown.
Distribution
. Bay of Bengal, off Andaman Is.,
741 m
(
Koehler and Vaney, 1905
); Indian Ocean, off
Sumatra
,
750 m
(
Heding, 1940
); North-east Pacific Ocean, off
Oregon
,
2510–3021 m
(this paper).
Remarks
.
Koehler and Vaney (1905)
and
Heding (1940)
reported single specimens of
Filithuria elegans
.
Filithuria
Koehler and Vaney
is considered above to be a junior synonym of
Pseudostichopus
Théel.
The distribution of
P. elegans
is extended here from the Indian Ocean to the NE Pacific Ocean, to greater depths. Amongst
Pseudostichopus
species
the distinguishing characters of
P. elegans
are: distinctly long papillae on the paired radii; numerous tapered rod ossicles in the papillae.