Trachythyone rigidapeda ( Cherbonnier, 1952 )

Thandar, Ahmed S., 2008, Additions to the holothuroid fauna of the southern African temperate faunistic provinces, with descriptions of new species, Zootaxa 1697 (1), pp. 1-57 : 24-26

Trachythyone rigidapeda ( Cherbonnier, 1952)

Cucumaria rigidapeda Cherbonnier, 1952: 485 , pl. 41, figs. 1-17.

Trachythyone rigidapeda Thandar, 1991: 135 (records), figs 2b, 12 & 15c.

Type SAM.

Type locality West coast of S.A., 30 o 22'S, 16 o 50' E, ca. 185 m.

Material examined

SAM-A28007, UCT Ecol. Surv., Lambert’s Bay , St. WCD 65, 32 o 5' S, 17 o 56' E, 21.ix. 1960, 128 m, rockdredge, 7 spec. ; SAM-A28008, Table Bay , 33 o 6.4' S, 17 o 4.9' E; St. WCD 84 , 3.vii. 1961, 160 m, dredge, 1 spec. ; SAM-A28009, R.V. ‘ Africana’ Hake Biomass Survey, St. A 10441-084-046-2349, off Cape Peninsula , 31 o 34 o S, 17 o 41' E, 27.vii. 1990, 125 m, bottom trawl, 1 spec.

Distribution Orange River Mouth to Table Bay, WCP, 120- 185 m.

Remarks

This well-characterised species is well described by Cherbonnier (1952). Thandar (1991) added some notes, including the dimensions of the spicules. Natasen Moodley (2000), who previously studied the current material, states that younger individuals may only have eight tentacles with the two ventral late to develop. A single specimen in the present collection measures 110 mm along the ventral surface, the longest length yet recorded for the species. The original distribution, Orange River Mouth to Lamberts Bay ( Thandar 1991), is now extended to include Table Bay. Its absence from the south coast, including False Bay, confirms that it is perhaps restricted to the cold waters of the west coast. Because of its close resemblance to T. tergestina (Sars) from the Mediterranean, Natasen Moodley (2000) speculates that the two forms could have evolved from a common ancestor, one migrating northwards and the other southwards.