Pseudostichopus echinatus Thandar, 1992

O'Loughlin, P. Mark & Ahearn, Cynthia, 2005, A review of pygal-furrowed Synallactidae (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), with new species from the Antarctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 62 (2), pp. 147-179 : 170

Pseudostichopus echinatus Thandar, 1992

Pseudostichopus (Pseudostichopus) sp.— Heding, 1940: 360–361, fig. 16.

Pseudostichopus (Pseudostichopus) echinatus Thandar, 1992: 164–167 , fig. 2.

Description (based on the descriptions by Heding, 1940, as P. ( Pseudostichopus ) sp., and Thandar, 1992, and on additional observations by A. Thandar, pers. comm.). Up to 65 mm long; dense dorsal and lateral encrustation of shells, globigerines, sand; subcylindrical body; 19 tentacles; scattered cover of very small tube feet, some more prominent dorsolateral tube feet evident amongst encrustations, series of ventrolateral tube feet in prominent series; longitudinal muscles cylindrical; unbranched gonad tubules in 2 series along gonoduct; ossicles in tentacles and tube feet only; tentacle ossicles irregular closely knobbed rods with some branching and perforations created by joined branches, not mesh-like, up to 300 Μm long.

Distribution. Indian Ocean, off eastern Africa, 1°41'– 28°22'S, 32°35'– 41°47'E, 200– 825 m.

Remarks. P. echinatus is known from the holotype (SAM A23435), a specimen discussed by Heding (1940), and a recent specimen from KwaZulu-Natal, 200 m (A. Thandar, pers. comm.). It has the diagnostic characters of Pseudostichopus above. Amongst Pseudostichopus species the distinguishing characters of P. echinatus are: encrusting cover of shells, globigerines and sand; very irregular closely knobbed tentacle rod ossicles; absence of gonad ossicles.