Holothuria artensis Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984

Yves, 2003, The holothurian subgenus Mertensiothuria (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae) revisited, Journal of Natural History 37, pp. 2487-2519 : 2496

Holothuria artensis Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984

Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) artensis Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984: 678 , figure 9, pl. IB.

Original name. Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) artensis Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984 .

Name-bearing type. Holotype, MNHNP, microslides of ossicles without reference number.

Type locality. New Caledonia ( Ile Art , Archipel des Belep) .

Current status. Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) artensis Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984 .

Material examined. None.

Description. See Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984: 678, figure 9, pl. IB.

Diagnosis. See Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984: 678, figure 9, pl. IB.

Ecology. Cherbonnier and Féral (1984) provide no description on the ecology of H. (M.) artensis , but state that the gut contains a mixture of brown mud and coarse sand.

Geographical distribution. Only known from the type locality (Ile Art).

Proposed status. Holothuria artensis Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984 .

Comments. It is not possible to discuss the status of Holothuria artensis because the holotype (the single known specimen; MNHNP EcHh3117) is currently untraceable. The specimen labelled MNHNP EcHh3117 and supposedly illustrated as the holotype by Cherbonnier and Féral (1984: pl. IB) is not H. artensis but a species of Bohadschia . Since the holotype of Bohadschia maculisparsa Cherbonnier and Féral, 1984 is labelled MNHNP EcHh3107 we thought that a switch of labels might have occurred between the specimens of those two species. However, the specimen MNHNP EcHh3107 is definitely the holotype of B. maculisparsa . A search needs to be carried out in the huge holothurian collections of the MNHNP to find the missing holotype of H. artensis . In the meantime, ossicle preparations of H. artensis held in the MNHNP and which accord with Cherbonnier and Féral’s figures (1984: figure 9A–M), should be considered as originating from the holotype. Presence or absence of ossicles in the muscles cannot be ascertained as no ossicle preparations of this tissue were made by Cherbonnier. Provisionally, the species will not be maintained in the subgenus Mertensiothuria or referred to another subgenus within the genus Holothuria .