Thyone flindersi O’Loughlin, 2012

O’Loughlin, P. Mark, Barmos, Shari & VandenSpiegel, Didier, 2012, The phyllophorid sea cucumbers of southern Australia (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Dendrochirotida: Phyllophoridae), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 69, pp. 269-308 : 295-298

Thyone flindersi O’Loughlin sp. nov.

Figures 17a , 18

Phyllophorus dearmatus .— Joshua, 1914: 4–5 (non Phyllophorus dearmatus Dendy and Hindle, 1907 ).

Thyone sp. — Joshua and Creed, 1915: 20.

Thyone okeni .— Rowe, 1982: 462 (“provisional referral”; Port Phillip and Westernport Bays specimens non Thyone okeni Bell, 1884 ).— Rowe and Gates, 1995: 316 (southern coast specimens non Thyone okeni Bell, 1884 ).—Gowlett-Holmes, 2008: 263 (southern coast specimens non Thyone okeni Bell, 1884 ).

Material examined. Holotype. Victoria, Flinders ocean platform, intertidal rocky shallows, 17 Feb 2008, M. O’Loughlin and E. Whitfield, NMV F151847 .

Paratypes. Westernport Bay , McHaffie Reef, 38°28'S 145°10'E, MRG , 16 Feb 2008, NMV F151848 (1) ; Shoreham , Honeysuckle Point, sieved from root of Amphibolus, A. Falconer ( MRG), 12 May 2012, NMV F174912 (1) ; MRG, 12 Apr 2012, NMV F174909 (1) ; Flinders , Mushroom Reef, 17 Feb 1990, NMV F73805 (1).

Other material (selection). Westernport Bay, Merricks, rocky shallows, 27 May 1989, NMV F73804 (1); Westernport Bay Survey, stn 57/02/69, Merricks, 22 Feb 1969, NMV F45261 (1; determined by D. Pawson 1974 as Thyone okeni Bell, 1884 ); Shoreham, rocky shallows, Jun 1979, NMV F73806 (1); San Remo, 28 Jan 1909, NMV F73819 (1) (no. 60641; determined in Joshua 1914 as Phyllophorus dearmatus Dendy and Hindle, 1907 ).

Tasmania, Bass Strait, Waterhouse Passage , 40º49'S 147º38'E, rocky shallows, 23 Nov 1982, NMV F97430 (1).

South Australia, J. C. Verco, Jan 1914, NMV F97433 (1; as Thyone sp. by Joshua and Creed 1915) ; Gulf St Vincent, off Adelaide, between North Haven and Largs Bay , seagrass, 1 Dec 1980, SAM K2585 (2) ; Willunga Reef, 23 Nov 1976, SAM K2582 (1) ; Aldinga Reef, 22 Nov 1979, SAM K2584 (3) ; Yorke Peninsula, Port Giles jetty, 15 m, Jan 1983, SAM K2595 (1) ; Wool Bay , 4 m, sand, AM J16647 (2) ; Edithburgh Jetty , 3–4 m, in sand, 14 Mar 1994, SAM K2600 (1) , SAM PK0072 ; Kangaroo Island, Kingscote Jetty , 3–4 m, in sand, 1 May 1999, SAM K2598 (1) , SAM PK0191 ; 3 May 1999, SAM K2599 (2) , SAM PK0183 ; Sir Joseph Banks Group, Smith Rocks, 28 Jan 1986, SAM K2607 (3) ; Waterloo Bay , seagrass, 5 m, 1980, SAM K2586 (2) ; Great Australian Bight, Point Westall, near Streaky Bay , 15 Jan 1991, NMV F97427 (1) ; near Ceduna, Cape Vivonne, 32º12'S 133º41'E, rocky shallows, 16 Jan 1991, NMV F97428 (1).

Western Australia, Albany , 35º03'S 117º92'E, 2 m, Jan 1988, AM J24966 (2) ; Bunbury , 13 Apr 1963, WAM Z31974 (1) ; Cockburn Sound , rubble and muddy sand, 29 Apr 1989, WAM Z31977 (1) ; Jervoise Groyne , 1 Jan 1958, 3 m, WAM Z31969 (1) ; Garden I., 29 Apr 1989, WAM Z31984 (1) ; Mangles Bay , 31 Jul 1988, WAM Z31961 (2) ; Woodman’s Point , WAM Z31982 (2).

Diagnosis. Thyone species up to 100 mm long, up to 15 mm diameter (relaxed, preserved, excluding tentacles, introvert; WAM Z31984), wide mid-body, tapered to upturned rounded oral and anal ends, thick firm body wall; external anal scales not detected; 10 tentacles, 8 large, 2 much smaller ventrally; complete cover of spaced tube feet, contiguous paired series on each side of longitudinal muscle interior attachments, more scattered inter-radially, more abundant ventrally than dorsally, diameter about 0.2–0.3 mm; tubular composite calcareous ring, posterior ends of composite radial plates not joined; radials tapered anterior with terminal split, divided posterior into paired narrowing composite tails, tails sometimes split; inter-radials tapered to anterior point, posterior ends truncate at a point anterior to the division of each radial; short stone canal and globular split-pea-like madreporite lie on the calcareous ring; single elongate thin polian vesicle; longitudinal muscles cylindrical to flat, undivided; gonad tubules unbranched.

Mid-body wall lacking ossicles; tube feet with endplates only, endplateswithirregularperforations, distinctlylargerperipherally, diameters up to 160 µ m; lacking endplate support rods or plates or tables; per-oral body wall with tables and sometimes rosettes, table discs irregular, rounded rectangular to oval to rounded triangular, up to 35 perforations, discs up to 72 µ m long, spires with 2 pillars, single cross connection, blunt spines distally, spires up to 32 µ m high, rosettes predominantly oval up to 40 µ m long; anal ossicles scales with spires, tube foot endplates, rosettes, rods, sometimes tables; scales thick, single-layered with lace-like thickening, fragment 440 µ m long, multilayered spire 424 µ m long, anal endplate diameters up to 136 µ m, rosettes up to 48 µ m long, rods with finely perforated ends, some with short branching distally, up to 96 µ m long, table discs up to 56 µ m long, up to> 8 perforations, spires with 2 pillars; tentacles branches with rods predominantly bracket-shaped, distally with lumps or fine branches or few perforations, some rods with sigmoid form, some straight, rods up to 88 µ m long, tentacle trunks sometimes with rosettes, round to oval to rod-like, up to 56 µ m long.

Colour (live and preserved). Body brown to dark reddish brown, body frequently dark grey orally and anally, introvert brown; tube feet red to dark brownish red, off-white orally and anally; tentacle trunks brown, lacking white spots (rosette clusters), tentacle branches dark grey.

Distribution. Southern Australia, east to San Remo (Westernport Bay), northern Tasmania (Bass Strait), west to Cockburn Sound (Western Australia near Perth), rocky shallows, seagrass; 0– 15 m.

Etymology. Named for the type locality, Flinders, in Victoria, in turn named for the English explorer Matthew Flinders who first charted the coastline of Victoria.

Remarks. The specimen reported in Joshua and Creed 1915 as Thyone sp. is registered to Museum Victoria and determined as Thyone flindersi O’Loughlin sp. nov. A specimen from San Remo collected in 1909 and reported in Joshua 1914 as Phyllophorus dearmatus Dendy and Hindle, 1907 was examined and determined as Thyone flindersi . Rowe 1982 “provisionally” referred Port Phillip and Westernport Bay specimens to Thyone okeni Bell. Thyone flindersi is distinguished from other southern Australia Thyone species in the key (above).

Figures

Figure 17. Photos of preserved specimens. a, holotype of Thyone flindersi O’Loughlin sp. nov. (NMV F151847) (insert: form of the calcareous ring plates); b, specimen of Thyone okeni Bell, 1884 (AM J10868); c, holotype of Thyone joshuai O’Loughlin sp. nov. (SAM K2566) (insert: form of the calcareous ring plates); d, holotype of Thyone kerkosa O’Loughlin sp. nov. (WAM Z31838); e, holotype of Thyone spenceri O’Loughlin sp. nov. (SAM K2562) (insert: form of the calcareous ring plates); f, holotype of Thyone tourvillei O’Loughlin sp. nov. (NMV F174902) (insert: form of the calcareous ring plates).

Figure 18. SEM images of ossicles from paratype of Thyone flindersi O’Loughlin sp. nov. (NMV F174909). Ossicles from peri-oral body wall (top); rods from tentacles (bottom).