Duasmodactyla seguroensis ( Deichmann, 1930 )

Pawson, David L., Pawson, Doris J. & King, Rachael A., 2010, A taxonomic guide to the Echinodermata of the South Atlantic Bight, USA: 1. Sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), Zootaxa 2449, pp. 1-48 : 13

Duasmodactyla seguroensis ( Deichmann, 1930)

Figure 7

Phyllophorus seguroensis Deichmann, 1930: 141 , pl.17 figs.10–13.

Duasmodactyla seguroensis .— Hendler et al., 1995: 259, figs 140, 178A,B.

Material examined. SERTC S2215, 70.2 miles @ 102 degrees off Charleston Light, SC, 32°30.3'N, 78°28.9'W, 210.3 m, coll. GML Staff, April 11 1978.

Diagnosis. Length up to 10 cm with 20 dendritic tentacles, 5 large pairs alternating with 5 smaller pairs. Color dark greenish-brown to mottled brown, with paler feet. Tube feet scattered, except on the introvert where they form 5 distinct rows. All body wall ossicles are tables (66–100 μm), with undulating and scalloped margins perforated by about 12 peripheral and 4 central holes; short 4-pillared spires terminate in 15–16 small spines.

Distribution. SC to FL, Gulf of Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil.

Habitat. Coastal areas, seagrass beds. Littoral to 13m.

Remarks. Heding & Panning (1954), without comment, listed Phyllophorus conchilegum ( Pourtalès, 1868) as a junior synonym of D. seguroensis . We can find no evidence to support this step. Deichmann (1930) noted that D. seguroensis has a “high” calcareous ring and tables and rosettes in the introvert, while P. conchilegum has a “low” calcareous ring and tables and perforated plates in the introvert; in any case, if P. conchilegum and D. seguroensis were eventually found to be synonymous, the former species-name would have priority.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Duasmodactyla seguroensis (Deichmann, 1930). A, whole animal; B, table in lateral view; C, table, top view.