On some lesser known sea cucumbers in the Natural History Museum, UK (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea)
Author
Thandar, Ahmed S.
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-10-23
4688
3
361
381
journal article
25163
10.11646/zootaxa.4688.3.3
a9af11dc-d705-48ed-96fb-3b323accc19e
1175-5326
3516791
B8F6F528-F616-4EA1-8CA7-FA2FA89A34B9
Thyone
?
elegans
Norman, 1869
or
T
.?
roscovita
Hérouard, 1889
Figure 4
(A, C & E)
?
Thyone elegans
Norman, 1869: 317
.
?
Thyone roscovita
Hérouard, 1889: 682
;
McKenzie, 1991
(syn. complete).
Material examined.
Isle of Muck, Rudha leam na Caraiche (perhaps Lubh’ Leam na Lá Rudha ceam na Caraich), littoral,
27.VII.38
, A.D.H. Collection,
1 spec.
Description.
Body form cylindrical, vermiform, with posterior end slightly curved. Length
55 mm
, breadth in mid-body
10 mm
. Tentacles 10, ventral two reduced. Skin and tentacles off-white in alcohol. Tentacles very bushy, including the two reduced ones. Calcareous ring and introvert eviscerated but still attached to body by retractor muscles. Mouth and anus terminal, non-calcified minute anal papillae evident. Hardly any distinction between dorsal and ventral surfaces. Tube feet short, scattered, but more numerous in ambulacra than elsewhere, some serial arrangement evident. Calcareous ring typically tubular, elongated, complex, somewhat twisted. Both radial and interradial plates fragmented, fused, anteriorly triangular, radials with a depression for attachment of retractor muscle. Radial plates prolonged posteriorly before bifurcating into fragmented processes which infringe on the anterior part of the gut (stomach), processes approximately one-third the length of ring. Polian vesicle single, elongated. Stone canals two, delicate, proximally straight, distally coiled, ending in a bean-shaped madreporite. Gonad immature, tubules unbranched, long, thin, restricted to mid-body. Longitudinal muscles as single strands. Retractor muscles thick and tough, the three ventral ones arising more anteriorly, proximally thin but widening distally before insertion onto radial plates. Except for a few fragmented multilocular, smooth periproctal plates, no ossicles detected in any part of the body, except for scattered fragmented/reduced/corroded end plates in some tube feet.
Remarks.
This specimen is identified as
Thyone roscovita
Hérouard
by A.D. Hobson perhaps based on McK- enzie’s (1991) suspicion. However, the label inside the original jar states Hebron’s
Thyone
but the writer was unable to ascertain what was implied by this label. Because of the presence of some anal plates and tube feet end plates, the writer with some hesitation, agrees with Hobson’s identification that the specimen represents
T. roscovita
, which according to
McKenzie (1991)
is perhaps a junior synonym of
T. elegans
. This is discussed in some detail under remarks above. I have no reason not to support this synonymisation. However, the presence of a calcareous ring with the radials prolonged before bifurcation and two stone canals suggest that this specimen may be a juvenile and identical to the
Thyone
sp. described above.