390 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Genus 1 ACTINOPYGA Bronn, 1860 



Actinopyga agassizii (Selenka) 



Millleria agassizii Selenka, 1867, p. 311. 

 Actinopyga agassizii Deichmann, 1930, p. 78, pi. 5, figs. 

 21-29. 



Diagnosis. — Large, stout form, preserved and 

 contracted 20 cm. long, but may very well be 

 almost twice as long when alive. Mouth ventral 

 with 25 to 29 large tentacles; anus with five large 

 anal teeth. Ventral side with numerous cylin- 

 drical feet in three bands; dorsal side with small 

 papillae and minute cylindrical feet. Color vary- 

 ing shades of brown, mottled; pedicels and ten- 

 tacles yellowish. Spicules simple rosettes and 



short blunt rods. Type: Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology. Type locality: Florida. Distribu- 

 tion: Known from Barbados to Florida; once 

 taken in Bermuda but appear not to be a constant 

 element in that island's fauna (Crozier, 1917d). 



As far as known it lives exposed in the sheltered 

 pools of the West Indian reefs. It will most likely 

 turn out to be found also in shallow water around 

 Yucatan. 



Genus 2. HOLOTHURIA Linnaeus, 1757 



Remarks. — A little more than a dozen species 

 are known from the West Indian region, and al- 

 though not all have definitely been found inside 

 the Gulf area they are all included in the key. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES FOUND IN THE GULF OF MEXICO OR LIKELY TO OCCUR THERE 



1. Deep water forms, about 200 fathoms depth 2 



1. Shallow water forms, exposed at low tide or down to less than 50 fathoms depth 3 



2. Large, soft-skinned form, up to 46 cm. long, color light brown with tips of appendages darker, often a lighter spot 



around base. Spicules tables and smooth buttons, twisted, incomplete, rarely with one or two knobs on the sur- 

 face 1. Holothuria lentiginosa v. Marenzeller, p. 391 



2. Medium-sized forms, up to 15 cm. long; skin stiffened with spicules. Ventrally cylindrical tube feet; dorisally and lat- 



erally conical papillae. Spicules small tables with blunt dentate margin and often partly resorbed spire; buttons 

 deformed, knobbed, .sometimes with holes obliterated 2. Holothuria occidentalis Ludwig, p. 391 



3. Dark, blackish or brownish forms, soft-skinned, with numerous cylindrical feet on ventrum. Spicules few, curved 



rods in the skin. Clings to rocks in the surf zone 3. Holothuria glaberrima Selenka, p. 391 



3. Not blackish, soft-skinned; not clinging to rocks in the surf zone 4 



4. Free-living forms, usually exposed in the tide pools, sometimes with a few bits of seaweeds or sand covering the 



dorsu m 5 



4. Normally buried in sand or mud or hiding under rocks or among corallines, etc 7 



5. Large, smooth-skinned, form blunt, cylindrical, usually dark above and pinkish below. Spicules small tables and 



minute perforated plates, mostly with small holes 4. Holothuria mexicana Ludwig, p. 391 



5. Medium sized forms, not particularly thick-skinned 6 



6. Usually brownish in color, sometimes spotted; not strongly warted dorsal side. Spicules tables and simple rosettes. 



(Young individuals concealed among mangrove.) 5. Holothuria floridana VonriaXhs, f>. ^1^2 



6. Colors mixed gray (living animals with specks of yellow red, black, etc.). Dorsal side with distinct rows of low 



warts. Spicules tables and small plates with two to four large central holes, some small terminal ones and a blunt 

 dentate margin [6. Holothuria grisea Selenka, p. 392] 



7. Animals normally concealed under rocks or among corallines 8 



7. Animals normally buried in sand or mud 10 



8. Flattened, yellowish-brownish forms with ventral circle of large tentacles; ventral feet crowded; dorsal side with 



papillae. Spicules a crowded layer of tables and large oval smooth buttons with comparatively small holes. 



7. Holothuria parvula Selenka, p. 392 



8. Elongate, cylindrical or flask-shaped forms with small terminal tentacles; feet scattered, more papillifonn on dorsal 



side 9 



9. Chocolate colored with yellow tentacles. Spicules a crowded layer of tables with tall spire ending in few spines which 



form a Maltese cross; disk resorbed, except in very small specimens; a few large flat bars beneath the tables, most 



luimerous near the tube feet 8. Holothuria surinamensi.i Ludwig, p. 393 



9. Mottled gray, warty, rough to the touch. Spicules a crowded layer of squat tables with squarish disk and numerous 

 small spines on the top; an inner layer of smooth, six-holed buttons, with large holes. 



9. Holothuria impatiens (Forsk&l), p. 393 

 10. Elongate, cigar-shaped body, with small terminal tentacles. No strong warts ; skin fairly smooth to the touch. Spicules 

 few delicate tables and small, smooth buttons with six holes, usually small. 



10. Holothuria arenicola Semper, p. 393 

 10. Not elongate, cigar-shapod body. Skin rigid with spicules 11 



