Paracaudina coriacea ( Hutton, 1872 )

O'Loughlin, P. Mark, Barmos, Shari & VandenSpiegel, Didier, 2011, The paracaudinid sea cucumbers of Australia and New Zealand (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Molpadida: Caudinidae), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 68, pp. 37-65 : 53-54

Paracaudina coriacea ( Hutton, 1872)

Figures 1d–f , 9 , 10

Molpadia coriacea Hutton, 1872: 17 .— Hutton, 1879: 307.— Lampert, 1885: 208–209.

Echinosoma (?) coriacea . — Hutton, 1879: 307. (synonymy with Caudina coriacea (Hutton) by Théel 1886)

Caudina meridionalis Bell, 1883: 58–59 , pl. 15 fig. 1.— Lampert, 1885: 210–211. (synonymy with Caudina coriacea (Hutton) by Théel 1886)

Caudina coriacea .— Théel, 1886: 54–55.— Dendy, 1897: 28–32, pl. 3 figs 9–18.— Dendy, 1898: 456–464, pl. 29.— Farquhar, 1898: 324.— Ludwig, 1898: 63–64.— Dendy and Hindle, 1907: 95, 108–110, fig. B.— Mortensen, 1925: 364–366, figs 46b, 47b. (synonymy with Caudina chilensis (Müller) by H. L. Clark 1908)

Caudina coriacea var. brevicauda R. Perrier, 1905: 121–123 , fig. N. (synonymy with Caudina coriacea by Dendy and Hindle 1907; with Paracaudina chilensis var. coriacea by H. L. Clark 1935)

Caudina pulchella R. Perrier, 1905: 117–120 , pl. 5 figs 14–17. (synonymy with Caudina coriacea by Dendy and Hindle 1907; with Paracaudina chilensis var. coriacea by H. L. Clark 1935)

Caudina chilensis .— Benham, 1909: 110. (non Paracuadina chilensis ( Müller, 1850))

Paracaudina chilensis var. coriacea .—H. L. Clark, 1935: 267– 284.

Paracaudina chilensis .— Pawson, 1963: 18–21, pl. 4.— Pawson, 1965: 14.— Pawson, 1970: 49–50, pl. 2 fig. 2.— Pawson, 1977: 119 (part).— Mah et al., 2009: 382, 398, fig. p. 383. (non Paracuadina chilensis ( Müller, 1850))

Material examined. New Zealand, Cook Strait , 61 m, 26 May 1975, NIWA 70954 (1) ; Cook Strait , 18 m, 15 Dec 1983, NIWA 70955 (1) ; South Island , west coast, Arawhata River mouth, washed onto spit, 8 Jul 1969, AM J12290 (3).

Diagnosis. Paracaudina species up to 172 mm total length, up to 28 mm diameter, caudal taper and narrow tail 102 mm long ( NIWA 70954); discrete thin tail, frequently longer than main body; body wall parchment-like, smooth to wrinkled, frequently with transverse creasing, preserved colour off-white with patches of yellowish-red (rusty) colouration in largest specimens; mid-body ossicles predominantly thick, button-like, octagonal, with central perforation bridged by a box basally and cross on the upper side, perforations small, margin predominantly rounded and lacking projecting knobs and bluntly pointed projections, surface variably knobbed or with short thick spines, ossicles typically 64 µm, up to 80 µm long.

Distribution. New Zealand; 0– 61 m.

Remarks. In erecting the species Caudina meridionalis (junior synonym of P. coriacea ) for two specimens from New Zealand waters, Bell 1883 noted that in comparison with Caudina ransonnetii Marenzeller, 1881 (junior synonym of P. chilensis ) the ossicles were “stout”, the perforations “small”, and the marginal projections not as distinct. We agree that these are a significant diagnostic difference between the predominant ossicle forms of Paracaudina coriacea and Paracaudina chilensis . We raise Paracudina coriacea ( Hutton, 1872) out of synonymy with Paracaudina chilensis ( Müller, 1850) .

Perrier 1905 illustrated(pl.5figs16,17) what he considered to be the predominant ossicle form in his Caudina pulchella from New Zealand. Perrier 1905 also illustrated two ossicles (fig. N) for his New Zealand variety Caudina coriacea var. brevicauda . In both cases these are the thick ossicles with rounded margin and small perforations that we have found and illustrated as the predominant ossicles in New Zealand specimens of Paracaudina coriacea examined in this work. This form of ossicle was illustrated for New Zealand specimens by Dendy 1897, Mortensen 1925, Heding 1933 (pl. 6 figs 10–13, New Brighton, Christchurch, specimen), and Pawson 1963 (cups from adult specimen). These are the predominant ossicles of Paracaudina coriacea (Hutton) .

Perrier 1905 illustrated (pl.4figs11,12)what he considered to be the predominant ossicle form in his Caudina rugosa from Cape Horn, and they are the ossicles of medium thickness with prominent blunt marginal projections that we have found in the Australian and New Zealand specimens of Paracaudina chilensis (Müller) examined in this work. This form of ossicle was illustrated by Müller 1854, Marenzeller 1881, Clark 1908, Hozawa 1928, Heding 1933 (pl. 6 figs 1–4, type), Pawson and Liao 1992, Liao and Clark 1995 and Pawson et al. 2001 for material falling within the synonymy of Paracaudina chilensis .

We note that Heding 1933 (pl. 6 figs 8–9) illustrated ossicles from a New Zealand specimen from Tiritiri Matangi (north of Auckland) that we judge to be typical of Paracaudina chilensis . If this was the predominant ossicle form the specimen was Paracaudina chilensis .

Our New Zealand colleagues were unsuccessful in attempting to find the type material for Molpadia coriacea Hutton, 1872 .

Figures

Figure 1. Photos of preserved specimens of species of Paracaudina Heding, 1932: a, holotype of P. ambigua O’Loughlin and Barmos sp. nov. (insert with drawings of rod and loop ossicles from the mid-body wall; WAM Z29767); b, P. australis (Semper, 1868) (insert with drawings of rod ossicles from the mid-body wall; AM J13583); c, P. chilensis (Müller, 1850) (WAM Z5638); d, P. coriacea (Hutton, 1872) (NIWA 70955); e, P. coriacea (Hutton, 1872) (AM J12290); f, mouth and tentacles of P. coriacea (Hutton, 1872) (NIWA 70954).

Figure 9. SEM images of ossicles from the mid-body wall of a specimen of Paracaudina coriacea (Hutton, 1872) from the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand (AM J12290).

Figure 10. SEM images of ossicles from the mid-body wall of a specimen of Paracaudina coriacea (Hutton, 1872) from Cook Strait, New Zealand (NIWA 70954).