Thyonina articulata

• Main Author: Thandar, Ahmed S.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2008
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Echinodermata; Holothuroidea; Dendrochirotida; Phyllophoridae; Thyonina; Thyonina articulata; False Bay; Van Veen; Antarc*; Antarctique*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5107083; https://zenodo.org/record/5107083

Thyonina articulata (Vaney, 1908) Thyone articulata Vaney, 1908a: 295, 1908b: 426, pl. 4, figs. 43, 44. Thyonina articulata Thandar, 1990: 217 (syn. & records), figs. 1d, 8, 10e-f. Type Unknown, perhaps in Scotland. Type locality Saldanha Bay, WCP. Material examined SAM-A27973, UCT Ecol. Surv., Van Veen, False Bay, St. FAL 419, 34 o 12.5' S, 18 o 37' E, 15.V. 1961, 48 m, 9 spec; SAM-A27974, St. FAL 434, 34 o 15.2' S, 18 o 33.2' E, 16.v. 1961, 42 m, 3 spec., SAM-A27975, St. FAL 937, False Bay, WCP, 25.i.1967, 19 spec. Distribution Saldanha Bay to Port Elizabeth, 16- 162 m. Remarks The specimens at hand are juvenile, measuring 2.5 mm x 1.75 mm to 3 mm x 2 mm. They are barrelshaped, uniformly white, with both anal teeth and papillae. The podia are mostly in ambulacra, in 2-4 rows, with a few also in the interambulacra. The material is clearly referable to the well known southern African temperate endemic, Thyonina articulata (Vaney, 1908) but in at least two specimens smooth, four-holed plates (ca. 55 µm), first described from the anal region by Cherbonnier (1952), are also sparingly distributed in the general body wall. This is perhaps a juvenile character. The calcareous ring, despite its early stage in development, is typical as are the end-plates of the podia. However, Thandar (1990) drew attention to a sympatric, atypical form of the species, dredged from Dassen Island (west coast) at 29 m with the bottom material also described as shelly sand. They are barrel-shaped, 24-42 mm long, yellowish in colour with brownish blotches, with the calcareous ring usually consisting of a single series of interradial elements, the end-plates seldom with a complex rim and the retractors originating as 1-3 strands. Natasen Moodley (2000), on the other hand, draws attention to another sympatric, atypical form dredged from False Bay, which is U-shaped, much longer (up to 62 mm) than the typical form but with a similar complement of spicules. Regrettably these three forms must await molecular investigations. : Published as part of Thandar, Ahmed S., 2008, Additions to the holothuroid fauna of the southern African temperate faunistic provinces, with descriptions of new species, pp. 1-57 in Zootaxa 1697 (1) on page 5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1697.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5107079 : {"references": ["Vaney, C. (1908 a) Les Holothuries recueillies par l'Expedition Antarctique Ecossaise. Zoologische Anzeiger, 33, 290 - 299.", "Vaney, C. (1908 b) Les Holothuries de l'Expedition Antarctique Nationale Ecossaise. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 46 (part II: No. 18), 405 - 441, 5 pls.", "Thandar, A. S. (1990) The phyllophorid holothurians of southern Africa with the erection of a new genus. South African Journal of Zoology, 25 (4), 207 - 223.", "Cherbonnier, G. (1952) Contribution a la connaisance des holothuries de l'Afrique du sud. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 33, 469 - 509,16 pls.", "Natasen Moodley, M. (2000) A taxonomic study of some holothuroid echinoderms taken from southern African waters west of Port Elizabeth, in the collections of the South African Museum. MSc. dissertation, University of Durban- Westville, South Africa. 170 pp."]}