Caenopedina pulchella ( Agassiz & Clark, 1907 )

Anderson, Owen F., 2009, The giant purple pedinid — a new species of Caenopedina (Echinodermata: Echinoidea: Pedinidae) from New Zealand and Australia, Zootaxa 2007, pp. 43-57 : 52

Caenopedina pulchella ( Agassiz & Clark, 1907)

Hemipedina pulchell a Agassiz & Clark 1907: 245.

Caenopedina pulchella .— Clark 1912: 223, pl. 91: figs. 18–22, pl. 103: figs. 1–3, pl. 105: figs. 6, 7.

Material examined: Bay of Plenty: 1 specimen (17 mm TD), 37°19.2'S, 177°04.8'E, 495 m, NIWA 6542; 1 specimen (8 mm TD), 37°20.4'S, 177°04.8'E, 502 m, NIWA 6544; 1 specimen (26 mm TD), 36°08.4'S, 178°11.4'E, 440 m, NIWA 34789. Colville Ridge: 1 specimen (33 mm TD), 32°21'S, 179°03.6'E, 424 m, NIWA 34788. Three Kings Ridge: 1 specimen (40 mm TD), 30°45.6'S, 172°48'E, 530 m, NIWA 34787; 1 specimen (15 mm TD), 34°06'S, 174°07.2'E, 515 m, NIWA 2531.

Remarks: This species is readily distinguished from all other species of Caenopedina , excluding C. superba , by its short and stout interambulacral primary spines. In the specimens examined, these spines are greenish basally and reddish distally, occasionally with white tips; the ambulacral and secondary spines are whitish. This spine colouration, plus the distinct sculpturing of the plates of the apical system, readily separates this species from C. superba . The globiferous pedicellariae are less obvious than those of most other Caenopedina species owing to their lightly pigmented brown glands, but are still readily found around the apical system and, after bleaching, the distinctive long, double-toothed tips of the blades are revealed. Ophicephalous pedicellariae are even more commonly encountered on the test. These are distinctive for the constricted blade frequently observed in this genus (but notably not in C. porphyrogigas ), and overall they are of a narrower form than those found in other species of Caenopedina . These features of the specimens described here agree very well with the description of Agassiz & Clark (1907) and Clark (1912), despite the generally smaller size of their specimens. The six specimens examined came from five locations, all in the northeast sector of the New Zealand region ( Fig. 5 ). These specimens extend the geographic range of the species outside of the north Pacific (Hawaii and Johnston Atoll) southward into the temperate region of northern New Zealand. A conservative depth range for these records, determined as above for C. porphyrogigas , is 440–490 m, with a potential depth range of 370– 530 m. This is similar to the depth range recorded for the Hawaiian specimens (274–509 m), (Bishop Museum 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Known geographical distribution of Caenopedina porphyrogigas (stars) and C. pulchella (dots). Filled stars represent confirmed records, unfilled stars represent unconfirmed records (specimens not retained). Locality data come from five sources: catch records from fisheries research trawl surveys (NIWA / MFish); catch records from government observers aboard commercial trawlers (MFish); records of the NIWA Invertebrate Collection; NMNZ records; NMV, Melbourne, records.