GULF OF MEXICO 



391 



11. Moro or loss harrol-shapod with large appendages, mostly with conical base; color dark brown and yellowish, mixed. 

 Si)ieuk'S reduced tables of difTercnt size; in base of feet often enormous tables with tapering conical spire. 



II. Holothuria princeps Selenka, p. 393 



1 1. Flattened forms with blunt ends and small appendages; color grayish or whitish 12 



12. Crowded layer of complicated tables, often with spire transformed into a hemispherical reticulum. Buttons in dorsal 



layer short, knobbed buttons with three pairs of holes; in ventral layer mostly longer ones witli four to six pairs of 



holes and siirface knobbed to almost smooth 12. Uohlhwia cubana Ludwig, p. 394 



12. Tables fairly simple; disk often partly reduced, as also the spire may be. Buttons of varying length, intermingled, 

 with three to seven pairs of holes, with knobbed to undulating surface, often the middle bar projecting. 



13. Holothuria pseiidofossor Deichmann, p. 394 



1 Holothuria lentiginosa v. Marenzeller 



Holothuria lentiginosa v. Marenzeller, 1893a, p. 0, pi. 1, 

 fig. 1; Deichmann, 1940, p. 196, pi. 33, figs. 1-7. 



Diagnosis. — Up to 46 cm. long in life; cylin- 

 drical with 20 ventral tentacles; feet ventrally 

 scattered, cylindrical, retractile, dorsally as con- 

 tractile papillae. Color light brown, paler ven- 

 trally; tip of appendages darker, often with a 

 paler area around the base of the papillae. Spicules 

 tables of varying size and narrow buttons often 

 twisted and incomplete, smooth with an occasional 

 knob. Type: Monaco. Type locality: Off the 

 Azores. Distribution: Eastern Atlantic, 67 to 

 180 fathoms and recently reported by the Atlantis 

 from the south and north coast of Cuba, 175 to 

 255 fathoms. As a single large specimen has been 

 taken along the northern coast of Cuba the 

 chances are that the species belongs to the fauna 

 of the southern part of the Gulf. 



2 Holothuria occidentalis Ludwig 



Holothuria occidentalis Ludwig, 1875, p. 104, fig. 35» 

 Deichmann, 1930, p. 60, pi. 2, figs. 9-17; 1940, p. 197, pi. 

 33, figs. 8-13. 



Diagnosis. — Preserved specimens up to 15 cm. 

 long; 20 small ventral tentacles, feet tapering 

 Init with cylindrical tips on ventrum; laterally 

 and dorsally as conical papillae. Color light 

 brown, paler beneath, dorsal papillae almost 

 white. Spicules small tables often with partly 

 resorbed spire; inner layer of knobbed buttons 

 often with holes obliterated. Type: Hamburg. 

 Type locality: "West Indies." Distribution: 

 Kno\vn from deeper water in the West Indies; 

 Virgin Islands (Th. Mortensen) ; Old Bahamas 

 Channel and Santarin Channel, northern Cuba 

 (Atlantis). From 180 to 250 fathoms. So far 

 the species has been reported just on the edge of 

 the Gulf, but the chances are that it will prove 

 to extend farther in along the northern coast of 

 Cuba and probably along the coast of Yucatan. 



i Holothuria glaberrima Selenka 



Holothuria glaberrima Selenka, 1867, p. 328, pi. 18, figs. 

 57-58; Deichmann, 1930, p. 09, pi. 4, figs. 10-13. 



Diagnosis. — Up to 10 to 15 cm. long, short 

 barrel-shaped, with large, unusually branched 

 tentacles; numerous ventral feet; dorsally scat- 

 tered papillae ; soft-skinned ; color black or brown- 

 ish. Spicules few curved or straight rods with 

 branched ends. Type: Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology. Type locality: Bahamas. Distribution: 

 Widespread in the West Indies but no definite 

 record of its occurrence in the Gulf. The only 

 observation about its mode of life is that of W. K. 

 Fisher who notes "it clings to the outer side of the 

 surf -washed rocks, usually where a tough kelp is 

 growing." The almost dendritic, bushy tentacles 

 indicate an adaptation for plankton feeding 

 similar to that which cbaracterizes the dendrochi- 

 rotes. 



4 Holothuria mexicana Ludwig 



FIO. 66:20-22 



Holothuria mexicana Ludwig, 1875, p. 101; Deichmann, 

 1926, p. 16; 1930, p. 74, pi. 5, figs. 15-20. 



Diagnosis. — Huge form, 50 cm. or more when 

 alive, thick-skinned, cylindrical, with blunt ends, 

 ventral feet cylindrical, often completely re- 

 tracted, dorsal side with insignificant papillae. 

 Spicules scattered small tables and an inner layer 

 of minute plates, mostly with several minute 

 holes, resembling crackers. Color normally a 

 dark brown or black upper side with pinkish 

 under side; sometimes spotted, with ventral dark 

 spots and paler dorsum, etc. Type: Hamburg 

 (immature specimen). Type locality: Gulf of 

 Mexico. Distribution: Common in shallow water 

 along the lagoons of northern Cuba, also taken at 

 Jamaica and Puerto Rico, Barbados, and as far 

 west as Curacao. Not reported in the western 

 part of the Caribbean nor in the Gidf. Taken 

 occasionallv in "Florida" and in the Bahamas. 



