Stichopodidae Haeckel, 1896

Woo, Sau Pinn, Yasin, Zulfigar, Tan, Shau Hwai, Kajihara, Hiroshi & Fujita, Toshihiko, 2015, Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae) in Straits of Malacca with description of a new species, ZooKeys 545, pp. 1-26 : 3

Taxon classification Animalia Aspidochirotida Stichopodidae

Stichopodidae Haeckel, 1896

Stichopus Brandt, 1835

Type species.

Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835

Diagnosis.

Peltate-shaped tentacles at ventral mouth with quadrangular shaped body. Flattened ventral sole with tube feet in ambulacra area. Papillae conspicuous. No cuvierien tubules and no anal teeth or traceable papillae around the cloacal opening. Gonads in two tufts, one at each sides of the dorsal mesentery. Spicules primarily tables, branched rods and C-shaped rods ( Clark and Rowe 1971).

Species composition.

This genus consists of 14 species. Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835; Stichous ellipes Clark, 1938; Stichopus herrmanni Semper, 1868; Stichopus horrens Selenka, 1867; Stichopus ludwigi Erwe, 1913; Stichopus monotuberculatus (Quoy & Qaimard, 1834); Stichopus naso Semper, 1868; Stichopus noctivagus Cherbonnier, 1967; Stichopus ocellatus Massin, Zulfigar, Hwai & Boss, 2002; Stichopus pseudohorrens Cherbonnier, 1967; Stichopus quadrifasciatus Massin, 1999; Stichopus rubermaculosus Massin, Zulfigar, Hwai & Boss, 2002; Stichopus fusiformiossa sp. n. Woo; Stichopus vastus Sluiter, 1887

Remarks.

The common characteristics of this genus include gonads with two branching tufts (which is a taxonomic character for the family Stichopodidae ) and the presence of tables, C-shaped, and S-shaped rod spicules in the tissue ( Clark and Rowe 1971). The distribution of the genus Stichopus was throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region ( Clark and Rowe 1971).