Actinopyga spinea Cherbonnier, 1980

Ali, Qadeer Mohammad, Shaikh, Iqra, Thandar, Ahmed & Ahmed, Quratulan, 2024, Actinopyga spinea Cherbonnier, 1980 (Holothuroidea: Holothuriida: Holothuriidae), new addition to the holothuroid fauna of Pakistan, Zootaxa 5432 (2), pp. 151-159 : 154-158

Actinopyga spinea Cherbonnier, 1980

( Figures 2 & 3 )

Actinopyga spinea Cherbonnier, 1980: 621–622 , fig. 4a–j; Purcell et al. 2012: 24–25, text figs; 2023: 30–31, text figs; Di Simone, 2022: 111–112 text figs; Jontila, 2022: 63–67, fig. 2,3.

Diagnosis (from Purcell et al. 2012). Body uniformly coloured, ranging from rusty brown to dark brown, to brownish-black, occasionally camouflaged with a thin layer of fine sand. Form subcylindrical, with slight ventral flattening. Tentacles 20, dark brown. Dorsal papillae thin, moderately long, ventral podia short. Anus subdorsal, anal teeth pronounced, nodular, yellow. Cuvierian tubules absent. Ossicles scattered, only abundant around mouth (peristome), anus and in the tentacles. Body wall ossicles rare, comprise few, forked spiny, sometimes terminally perforated, rods (about 110 μm long) and spiny plates of various sizes. Tentacle ossicles as spiny curved rods, 80–130 μm long. Pedicel ossicles comprise few short, 120 μm rods, bifurcate at ends; papillae with similar rods but twice longer.

Material examined. All three specimens at hand originate from the Makran coast, Balochistan ( Figure 1 ), Two specimens were collected from the intertidal zone at Gariyan Beach (25°00’57”N, 61°46’44”E), on December 02, 2021, during low tide (- 0.05m; 2:40 p.m), by Qadeer Mohammad Ali, Iqra Shaikh, Ateeqa Baloch and Kashif Jameel , while the third specimen came from Bandari Beach (25°03’09”N, 61°44’36”E), Makran coast, also collected during low tide (- 0.06m; 2:39 pm) by Quratulan Ahmed and Hafsa Qazi .

Description. Colour uniform dark brownish, sometimes camouflaged by adhering fine sand grains ( Figure 2A &B ). Tentacles light brown, tube feet creamy white in colour. Papillae long, slender; anus sub- terminal. The preserved length, breadth and weight of the three specimens are as follows:specimen 1, 12 cm x 4.2 cm and weighed 54 g; specimen 2,13 cm x 4.5 cm and weighed 65 gm; specimen 3, 18 cm x 5.5 cm and weighed 209 gm. In specimen 3 the gonads is thick and mature. Body elongate, sub-cylindrical, bivium slightly arched, trivium slightly flattened. Bivium generally covered by fine sediment, camouflaging its dark brownish colouration; papillae of bivium long, slender, conical, approximately 120 μm long, pedicelson trivium cylindrical, thick, arranged irregularly on both radii and interradii. Mouth ventral, surrounded by 20 stout, peltate tentacles. Anus sub-dorsal, surrounded by 5 strong, yellow, conspicuous, triangular teeth with characteristic nodules. Calcareous ring 1 cm wide, 0.5 cm high and thick with wide radial plates that split anteriorly and thin interradial plates that are depressed posteriorly, all of the plates having notches ( Figure 2H ). Cuvierian tubules absent.

Ossicles. Ossicles scattered, both dorsally and ventrally, only abundant around mouth (peristome), anus and in the tentacles. They comprise rods only, with rosettes and plates restricted to the anal region. Rosettes appear as minute branching rods, whereas the plates are perforated and often provided with spines. Tentacle ossicles comprise elongated, straight or slightly arched rods, 280–400 μm long ( Figure 2G , 3D ), bearing small spines along their length and sometimes a terminal perforation, occasionally branching out to form cross-shaped deposits. Spiny plates measure 70–140 μm long ( Figure 2C & D , 3B 1 & B 2 ), forked spiny rods of dorsal body wall about 132 μm long ( Figure 2E and 3A ). Podial deposits comprise few, short, 130–150 μm, bifurcating rods ( Figure 2F and 3C ). Rods and rosettes of anal region range in size from 45 to 90 μm ( Figure 3G ). Anal teeth distinctly nodular, 0.25 mm long ( Figure 3F ).

Distribution. New Caledonia (Cherbonnier, 1980) Great Barrier Reef, Queensland (Leeworthy, 2007), Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island ( Purcell et al. 2012), Philippines ( Jontila, 2017) and now from Pakistan. According to Purcell et al. (2023) the species may be more widely spread in the Melanasian region but is often mistaken for A. miliaris by fishermen.

Habitat. All three specimens were taken from the intertidal zone, under rock, buried in sand.

Remarks. We compared our specimen with the type described by Cherbonnier (1980) and those described by Purcell et al. (2012, 2023) and Jontila (2017). In colour, our specimens come very close to that described by Jontila (2017) as dark brownish; bivium blackish; trivium dark brown. Like Jontila’s specimen the papillae are long and slender and the anal teeth bear distinct nodules. Our specimens also resemble those described by Purcell et al. (2012, 2023), except for variations in ossicle size. According to Purcell et al. (2012) the tentacle ossicles comprise spiny curved rods, 250–500 μm long; the forked spiny rods of the dorsal body wall are about 110 μm long, and spiny plates are of various size, 80–130 μm. The ventral body wall of their specimen was also devoid of ossicles and the ventral podia possessed few short, approximately 120 μm long, bifurcating rods, with the papillae bearing similar rods, twice as long. The calcareous ring illustrated by Purcell et al. (2023) varies slightly from our material, showing narrower interradial plates, perhaps indicating intraspecific or geographic variationas their materials came from New Caledonia and/or Australia.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing location of Gariyan (map developed by Abrar Ali, Marine Reference Collection and Resource Centre, University of Karachi)

FIGURE 2. Actinopyga spinea (Cherbonnier, 1980). A. preserved specimen, B. live specimen, C and D. plates of dorsal body wall, E. rods of body wall, F. podia rods, G. tentacle rods H. calcareous ring (mid-dorsal radial and adjoining interradial plates).

FIGURE.3. Actinopyga spinea (Cherbonnier, 1980).A. rods of body wall; B1 and B2. plates of dorsal body wall; C. podial rods; D. tentacle rods; E. anal teeth rods; F. anal teeth; G. rods and rosettes of anal region.