Chiridota pisanii Ludwig, 1886

O’Loughlin, P. Mark & VandenSpiegel, Didier, 2010, A revision of Antarctic and some Indo-Pacific apodid sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Apodida), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 67, pp. 61-95 : 89-91

Chiridota pisanii Ludwig, 1886

Table 2

Chiridota purpurea . —Théel, 1886: 15, pl. 2 fig. 1 (= Chiridota pisanii Ludwig, 1886 ; non Holothuria (Fistularia) purpurea Lesson, 1830 ; see Ludwig 1898). (For complete synonymy see Bohn in Altnöder et al. 2007).

Material examined. S Atlantic Ocean, Burdwood Bank, ICEFISH 2004 stn 1–OT1, 54.22°S 59.84°W, 93 m NMV F106959 (1) ; ICEFISH 2004 stn 1–OT2, 54.22°S 59.83°W, 93 m NMV F106963 (4) ; Patagonia, 52°12'S 67°19'W, 95 m, Discovery Expedition, William Scoresby stn 750, 19 Sept 1931, NHM 2010.110 (1, wheel cluster only) ; Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, 54º00'S 67º24'W, 0 m, 1999, NMV F86016 (2) ; Cape Horn, 56°20'S 67°10'W, 121 m, Discovery Expedition, William Scoresby stn 388, 16 Apr 1930, NHM 2010.111 (1).

Diagnosis (from Bohn in Altnöder et al. 2007). Up to 68 mm long (130 mm in Ludwig 1898); tentacles 12, 4–7 pair of digits per tentacle, longest distally, tentacle rods with variably branched ends, sometimes central hub, 16–69 µ m long; calcareous ring with 5 radial 7 interradial plates, all radial plates perforated for passage of nerve; polian vesicles 4–11 (– 16 in Théel 1886); single ciliated urns at base of mesenteries, numerous in mid-dorsal and left dorsal interradius, sparse in right ventral interradius; chiridotid wheels with serrations on inner side continuous, gathered into papillae in single series in dorsal interradii, inconspicuous or lacking in ventral interradii, 43–147 µ m diameter; miliary granules in longitudinal muscles 14–49 µ m long.

Colour (preserved). Off-white to pink to reddish-brown.

Distribution. Pacific and Atlantic coasts of southern South America (south of 42ºS), Falkland Is, 0–102 m (Bohn in Altnöder et al. 2007); Burdwood Bank, 93 m (this work); Cape Horn, 121 m (this work).

Remarks. Chiridota pisanii Ludwig has not been reported south of the Polar Front, and is not an Antarctic species. Bohn (in Altnöder et al. 2007) has provided a comprehensive systematic treatment with illustrations. He queried the identity of the Challenger Falkland Is specimens determined by Théel (1886) as Chiridota purpurea , and subsequently judged by Ludwig (1898) to be Chiridota pisanii , since the wheel sizes were larger (140–160 µ m diameter) than his measurements for Chiridota pisanii (43–147 µ m diameter). Our ossicle measurements for Burdwood Bank specimens are: wheels 80– 144 µ m diameter; tentacle rods 48–80 µ m long.

O’Loughlin (2002) initially failed to find hook ossicles in specimens from Heard I. and identified them as Chiridota pisanii . Hook ossicles were subsequently found, and the material re-determined as Taeniogyrus contortus (see O’Loughlin 2009).