Pseudostichopus, Theel, 1886

Thandar, Ahmed S., 2018, On some miscellaneous sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in the collections of the South African Museum with three new species, Zootaxa 4532 (1), pp. 57-85 : 83

? Pseudostichopus sp.

Material examined. SAMC-A 090931 , SM 246, off Transkei South of Port St. Johns , 31°58.06’ S, 29°35.06’ E, biological dredge, 1640–1660 m, 27. VI.1979, 1 spec.

Remarks. There is another single, minute (6 mm x 2 mm) specimen, in the current material, whose generic identity cannot be determined. It appears to be juvenile and lacks gonads. It has a translucent body wall, is pinkish white in colour and densely covered with sponge spicules and some other encrustations. Its tentacles are minute and could not be counted and the distribution of its minute tube feet could not be determined. The pygal furrow, if at all present, is inconspicuous. The calcareous ring is well developed with broad anteriorly notched radial plates. There are no ossicles in the body wall and other organs. Therefore, whether the specimen represents a Pseudostichopus or another genus is debatable. O’Loughlin & Ahearn (2005) list only two species with a dense mat of sponge spicules, viz. P. hyalegerus ( Sluiter, 1901) and P. spiculiferus ( O’Loughlin, 2002) . However, the first is a West Pacific form with ossicles in the papillae and pygal lobes and the latter is an Antarctic form with ossicles in the gonad. Hence more material is required for both generic and specific determination.