Triasemperia O’Loughlin, 2014

P. Mark O’Loughlin, Melanie Mackenzie & Didier Vandenspiegel, 2014, New dendrochirotid sea cucumbers from northern Australia (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Dendrochirotida), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 72, pp. 5-23 : 15-16

Triasemperia O’Loughlin gen. nov.

Zoobank LSID. http://zoobank.org:act:5140E273-FE8D-4F8A-

A66D-F94B74771FE8

Diagnosis. Dendrochirotid species with mouth anterior, anus posterior, lacking anal teeth; tube feet scattered over body; 20 dendritic tentacles, 15 large, 5 inner small; calcareous ring composite, comprising small calcareous pieces, radial and inter-radial composite plates adjoin to create tubular ring, radial plates elongate with thin posterior distal prolongations adjoining inter-radial plate elongations, radial plates with median division for most of the length, inter-radial plates with deep posterior notch; ossicles throughout the body wall tables, discs triangular, typically with 6 large marginal knobs and 6 small perforations, spires with three pillars; tentacles with rods, rosettes, few tables.

Type species. Triasemperia stola O’Loughlin sp. nov. (monotypic).

Etymology. From the Greek tria (three), referring to the three pillars of the table spires, with semperia, referring to the subfamily Semperiellinae and in turn to the esteemed biologist Carl Gottfried Semper.

Remarks. The new genus Triasemperia is referred to the subfamily Semperiellinae on the bases of the presence of 20 dendritic tentacles and composite tubular calcareous ring. The new genus is distinguished from the other genera of the Semperiellinae by the presence of table spires with three pillars.