Psolus operculatus ( Pourtalès, 1868 ), Pourtales, 1868

Pawson, David L., Pawson, Doris J. & King, Rachael A., 2010, A taxonomic guide to the Echinodermata of the South Atlantic Bight, USA: 1. Sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), Zootaxa 2449, pp. 1-48 : 32-33

Psolus operculatus ( Pourtalès, 1868)

Figure 25

Cuviera operculatus Pourtalès, 1868: 127 .

Psolus operculatus .— Deichmann, 1930:187, pl.20, figs. 1,2; Miller and Turner, 1986: 484.

Material examined. USNM E19419 , off S.C., 32°30'N, 78°29'W, R/V Pierce, Sta 2G, Nov. 20, 1977, 218m, 2.

Diagnosis. Deichmann: Length up to 4cm; body flattened, with medium thick sole. Color unknown. Dorsal scales thin, smoothly overlapping, covered with grains in adults. Five blunt interradial oral valves which are unable to completely close oral aperture; five narrow teeth internal to oral valves. Anus surrounded by a few circles of scales. Three to five or as many as seven dorsal scales between the oral and anal apertures. Ossicles in sole heavy four-holed buttons (90–120 μm) with knobbed margin also knobs in the middle; ossicles become more solid with smaller holes towards margin of sole.

Distribution. SC, FL, Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat. Usually attached to hard substrates. Depth: 150– 274m.

Remarks. Records of this species from Northern Europe are apparently erroneous, according to Deichmann (1930).

Figures

FIGURE 25. Psolus operculatus (Pourtalès, 1868). A, whole animal; B, C, buttons.