Holothuria (Halodeima) kefersteinii ( Selenka, 1867 )

Honey-Escandón, Magali & Solís-Marín, Francisco A., 2018, A revision of Holothuria (Halodeima) kefersteinii (Selenka, 1867) and the revival of Holothuria inornata Semper, 1868 from sea cucumbers collected in Mexico and Central America, Zootaxa 4377 (2), pp. 151-177 : 166-167

Holothuria (Halodeima) kefersteinii ( Selenka, 1867)

Stichopus kefersteinii Selenka, 1867: 318 ; Verrill 1867: 329; Semper 1868: 74; Lampert 1885: 103; Théel 1886: 195; Ludwig 1889 –92: 331.

Holothuria kefersteinii .— H.L. Clark 1922: 46.

Ludwigothuria kefersteini .— Deichmann 1958: 312 –314.

Holothuria (Paraholothuria) riojai Caso, 1963: 367 –380.

Holothuria (Halodeima) kefersteini .— Rowe 1969: 138; Solís-Marín et al. 2009: 106; 2013: 23.

Material examined. A total of 110 specimens were examined. Catalog numbers, number of specimens, localities and dates of collection are recorded in Table 2.

Types. Göttingen Museum of Natural History syntype no. 4.19 ; Museum of Comparative Zoology syntype no. HOL–769.

Type locality. Mazatlan , Mexico ( Selenka 1867).

Diagnosis. Color of skin light brilliant red, dorsal and ventral podia light green with black suckers; tentacles black or dark brown. Dorsally, two longitudinal rows of black spots almost always present. Dorsal podia with tables with an incomplete disc, with three or four perforations and spiny rim; spire with four pillars, one cross beam and a Maltese cross crown; curved, smooth, perforated or non-perforated supporting rods also present. Stone canals in two tufts, rarely only one.

Description. Color in alcohol uniformly light olive green or light gray on the bivium and the trivium, podia darker than the skin but suckers of the ventral side at times lighter in color. Dorsally, four well defined longitudinal double-rows of papillae on warts, sometimes bearing alternately black and lighter spots. Older specimens with brown or light brown skin and darker podia. Tentacles dark deep grey or black, or almost black. Body wall covered by scattered, cylindrical tube feet, more numerous ventrally. Mouth terminal, surrounded by 20 tentacles; anus terminal. Body wall up to 5 mm thick.

Dorsal body wall with tables with an incomplete disc, with three or four perforations and spiny rim; spire with four pillars, one cross beam and a crown appearing as a Maltese cross when viewed from above. Dorsal podia with tables similar to those of the body wall as well as curved, smooth, perforated or non-perforated supporting rods, two to three times the width of tables. Endplates present on tube feet. Ventral body wall with tables with reduced base, without a ring of perforations, or with 2–4 or more holes; spire with four pillars, one cross beam and a Maltese cross crown. Ventral tube feet with similar tables plus perforated pseudo-plates with two big central holes.

Longitudinal muscles divided, completely attached. Calcareous ring with radial plates, 1.5 to 3 times the length of interradial plates. One or more (up to seven) well developed Polian vesicles, from 1/12 to 1/3 body length. Three to 21, rarely one, short (less than 1/12 the body length) stone canals in two tufts, one on each side of dorsal mesentery, rarely only on right side. Cuvierian tubules present, apparently non-expellable, short (less than 1/12 the body length) and few in number (approximately 2–10 attachment sites), easily detachable. Gonad unbranched in one tuft. Right respiratory tree extending the total length of body.

Remarks. Species easily identifiable by its live coloration. Rods of dorsal podia curved with none, one or two small, terminal perforations, length 1.5 times the width of dorsal tables.

Known geographical distribution. In the states of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero and Oaxaca in Mexico, and in Costa Rica.

Ecology. Always found under rocks, rarely covered with sand. No symbiotic organism present in the cloaca.