Aslia pygmaea ( Théel, 1886 )

Prata, Jéssica, Manso, Cynthia Lara De Castro & Christoffersen, Martin Lindsey, 2020, Dendrochirotida (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the northeastern coast of Brazil, Zootaxa 4755 (3), pp. 401-453 : 405-406

Aslia pygmaea ( Théel, 1886)

Colochirus pygmaea Théel, 1886: 83 , pl. IV, fig. 9.

Pentacta pygmaeus: Deichmann 1930: 180 , pl. XXI, figs 10–16; Tommasi 1969: 14.

Ocnus pygmaeus: Miller & Pawson 1984: 17 , figs 10–11.

Aslia pygmaea: Pawson et al. 2010: 15–17 , figs 6c, 9a–e; Miranda et al. 2012: 141; Miranda et al. 2015: 116, figs 5a–b.

Material examined. No material could be analyzed. The data given below is based on the literature.

Type locality. Bahia coast, Brazil ( Deichmann 1930).

Diagnosis. Barrel-shaped body, with conspicuous tube feet confined to the radii, 30–70 mm long. Color light brown to chocolate brown, ends of tube feet lighter. Mouth concealed by five prominent oral valves. Body wall rigid with buttons of 10 knobs (45–80 μm long), and deep cups (45–55 μm long) ( Pawson et al. 2010).

Geographical distribution. Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Brazil (from Cear to Bahia in the NE coast) ( Deichmann 1930; Pawson et al. 2010; Miranda et al. 2012). According Pawson et al. (2010), this species occurs down to 37 m deep.