Bohadschia marmorata ( Jaeger, 1833 )

THANDAR, AHMED S., 2007, Additions to the aspidochirotid, molpadid and apodid holothuroids (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the east coast of southern Africa, with descriptions of new species, Zootaxa 1414 (1), pp. 1-62 : 13-14

Bohadschia marmorata ( Jaeger, 1833)

Figure 5

Holothuria (Holothuria) marmorata Jaeger, 1833:18 , pl.3, fig. 9.

Bohadschia marmorata Rowe & Gates 1995:289 (synonymy); Samyn 2003:21, fig. 8 A–E, fig. 51H, pl. 1H (synonymy & records before 2003). Type Perhaps lost.

Type locality Sulawesi, Indonesia .

Material examined

UW Ecological Survey , Inhaca Island, Mozambique, 1 spec. , NB108F, 2 specimens; SAM-A27925 , S.E. of Kosi Bay , KZN, 26° 57.3' S, 32° 54.3' E , NMDP, St. ZA 59, 4 vi 1990, 41 m, night-haul, 1 spec.

Description

Mozambique specimens: 130–133 mm long, 50–78 mm wide. Colour dark brown with light patches around podia. Cuvierian tubules present. Rosettes of body wall 14–21 µm dorsally and 17–22 µm ventrally. Rods of dorsal podia 22–38 µm, rods of ventral podia 17–51 µm. Tentacle rods 116–224 µm.

Kosi Bay specimen: may not be referable to this species and hence briefly described.

Size 75 x 20 mm, subcylindrical. Mouth ventral, tentacles 18, collar absent; anus terminal, no special anal papillae. Colour, in alcohol, uniformly off-white; podia yellowish, scattered, dorsal ones arising from wartlike prominences. Body wall <1 mm. Radial plates of calcareous ring ( Figure 5I ) quadrangular, each with two ampullary notches and a concave posterior margin; interradial plates with only a slightly concave posterior margin. Polian vesicle sac-like, 2 mm; stone canal short, straight; madreporic body spherical ( Figure 5H ). Tentacle ampullae up to 6 mm long. Right respiratory tree reaching anterior third of body, left more profusely branched, both trees uniting before opening into cloaca. Cuvierian tubules present at base of common stalk of respiratory trees.

Dorsal and ventral spicules not identical. Dorsal body wall with rosettes ( Figure 5D ) and X- and Y-shaped rods ( Figure 5C ); rosettes 16–45 µm (mean 25 µm), simple to complex, with numerous branches and subbranches; rods few, 23–65 µm (mean 38 µm), sometimes terminally bifid; granules absent. Ventral body wall with granules ( Figure 5A ) and rosettes ( Figure 5B ); granules 13–23 µm (mean 18 µm), of diverse form, usually without perforations, occasionally with up to four; rosettes 10–32 µm (mean 18 µm), few, never as complex and slender as the dorsal ones. Dorsal podia with small, simple rosettes, 10–35 µm (mean 18 µm) and curved rods 35–103 µm (mean 64 µm) ( Figure 5E ), usually branched at ends, with some being cross-shaped, with or without terminal branches; ventral podia with similar rods, 35–129 µm (mean 68 µm); dorsal endplates ( Figure 5F ) 226–352 µm (mean 270 µm); ventral end-plates 316–355 µm (mean 330 µm). Tentacles with slender to stout, curved rods, 97–475 µm (mean 261 µm), with spiny projections and often spinulated ends ( Figure 5G ). Longitudinal and cloacal muscles and Cuvierian tubules without deposits.

Distribution Tropical Indo-West Pacific, 0–36 (?41) m (Rowe, in Rowe & Gates 1995).

Remarks

The three Mozambique specimens are definitely referable to B. marmorata with its formidable list of synonyms. The KZN specimen is here also referred to this widely distributed species but with some doubt. Rowe (in Rowe & Gates, 1995) comments that his synonymy of B. marmorata may be too sweeping and awaits a critical examination of the remaining type and other materials. While partially agreeing with Rowe, Samyn (2003) is of the opinion that at least B. vitiensis and B. similis may deserve full specific rank. On the same note B. bivittata was only recently resurrected from the synonymy of B. marmorata by Clouse et al. (2005), based on behavioural, morphological and mitochondrial DNA evidence.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Bohadschia marmorata Jaeger, 1833. SAM–A27925. A. granules from ventral body wall; B. rosettes from ventral body wall; C. rods from dorsal body wall; D. complex rosettes from dorsal body wall; E. rods from dorsal podia; F. end-plate from dorsal podium; G. rods from tentacles; H. madreporite; I. part of calcareous ring. (H & I scale a; F & G scale b; A–E scale c)