Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens ( Forsskål, 1775 ), Forsskal, 1775

Samyn, Yves & Vandenspiegel, Didier, 2016, Sublittoral and bathyal sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the Northern Mozambique Channel with description of six new species, Zootaxa 4196 (4), pp. 451-497 : 468

Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens ( Forsskål, 1775)

( Fig. 9 A – B)

Fistularia impatiens Forsskål, 1775: 121 , pl.39B; Lamarck, 1816: 76.

Trepang impatiens ; Jaeger, 1833: 25.

Sporadipus impatiens ; Grube, 1840: 36; Aranda y Millan, 1908: 250.

Holothuria (Camerosoma) impatiens ; Brandt, 1835: 53.

Holothuria (Holothuria) impatiens ; Panning, 1935: 86, fig. 72 (synonymy and records before 1935); Tortonese, 1935: 261; Domantay, 1936: 358, pl. 7, fig. 83, pl. 6, fig. 65; Zavodnik, 1998: 641.

Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens ; Rowe & Gates, 1995: 303 (synonymy); Massin, 1999: 57, figs 45 & 111e (records before 1999).

Material examined. Non-type material: IE-2007-812 (1 specimen, sampled West of Nosy-Bé)

Remarks. This single specimen accords with H. L. Clark’s (1921: 179, pl. 19, fig. 5) ‘typical’ colour morph of Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens . H. impatiens is known to be a complicated species complex ( Clark, 1921; Michonneau, 2015), but until formal species are established or synonymised names are re-validated we follow the ‘sweeping’ synonymy of Panning (1935) and Rowe & Gates (1995). However, we agree with Cherbonnier (1974) to treat Holothuria truncata Lampert, 1885 as a valid species, and not as a junior subjective synonym of H. impatiens as suggested by Rowe (in Rowe & Gates, 1995).

According to Lane et al. (2000), H. impatiens is found between 0 and 30 m depth. The present record was sampled at 158 m and thus the bathymetric range of the H. impatiens complex is much larger than previously thought.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens (Forsskål, 1775). A: dorsal view of specimen IE- 2007 - 812; B: Sem views of ossicles from the dorsal body wall. Scale bares: A = 1 cm; B = 20 µm.