388 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Genus 1 STICHOPUS Brandt, 1835 



1 Stichopus regalis (Cuvier) 



Holothuria regalis Cuvier, 1817, p. 22. 

 Stichopus regalis Deichmann, 1940, p. 193, pi. 32, figs. 

 1-8. 



Diagnosis. — Large form, up to 32 cm. long, 

 with lateral row of papillae, ventrum with numer- 

 ous cylindrical indistinct bands; dorsal side with 

 papillae. Color brownish with white spots on the 

 dorsal side, ventrum paler. Spicules large tables 

 with numerous holes in the disk. Type: Possibly 

 in Paris. Type locality: Mediterranean Sea. 

 Distribution: In the eastern Atlantic from the 

 west coast of Ireland to the Canaries. In the 

 western Atlantic reported for the first time, by 

 the Atlantis, west of Havana, at 200 fathoms 

 depth. Lampert (1885, p. 101) reports that it 

 is taken at 2 fathoms depth, but one wonders 

 whether there is not some misunderstanding. 

 Most specimens appear to have come from 50 to 

 200 fathoms depth, and Nobre (1931, p. 146) 

 mentions that the animal has difficulty in surviving 

 in aquaria. 



This represents another of the east Atlantic 

 species which the Harvard-Havana expeditions 

 revealed also existed in the western part. It will 

 probably be found to occur more widespread in the 

 Gulf, at moderate depth, along the northern coast 

 of Cuba and around Yucatin. 



2 Stichopus badionotus Selenka 



FIO. 60: 1-8 



Stichopus badionotus Selenka, 1867, p. 316, pi. 18. fig. 

 26; Deichmann, 1930, p. 80, pi. 5, figs. 30-36; 1940, p. 195. 



Diagnosis. — Large, thick-skinned form with 

 cylindrical feet in crowded bands on the ventrum 

 and flanks and dorsum with few large warts. 

 Color varying from deep chocolate brown to 

 almost black or spotted or striped on more yeUow 

 ground. Spicules a crowded layer of small 

 tables with few holes in a circle around the low, 

 squat spire; sometimes C-shaped bodies. Type: 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology. Type locality: 

 Florida. Distribution: Seems to be common all 

 over the West Indies including Bermuda, wherever 



there are suitable localities — quiet pools with eel- 

 grass or sandy patches among coral reefs. It is 

 known from the Florida reefs, the north coast of 

 Cuba, and Yucatan, but it is doubtful whether 

 it is able to live in the northern part of the Gulf. 

 Crozier (1918) has studied its biology and found 

 that its consumption of sand is not unimportant 

 in the sanitation of the reefs whenever it occurs in 

 large numbers. The animals become easily 

 transformed into slime and are apparently un- 

 suitable for preparation of "trepang" as no 

 animals seem to want to eat them. As in the 

 case of many other marine animals mostly large 

 individuals are known; the young ones must 

 undoubtedly hide in inaccessible spots; they 

 probably grow very fast as Mitsukuri has found 

 in a related species in Japan. 



Genus 2 ASTICHOPUS H. L. Clark, 1922 



Astichopus multifldus (Sluiter) 



Stichopus multifidus Sluiter, 1910, p. 334, text figs. a-b. 

 Astichopus multifidus Clark, 1922, p. 48; Deichmann, 

 1930, p. 84, pi. 5, figs, 44-47. 



Diagnosis. — Large species, 45 cm. long; body 

 blunt, cylindrical, with tube feet scattered over 

 the entire surface, cylindrical on the ventrum, 

 smaller, more papilliform on the dorsum. Spicules 

 numerous minute grains, collected in heaps, and 

 besides scattered C, S, or 0-shaped bodies The 

 feet have an end plate composed of smaller plates, 

 and the walls contain C-shaped bodies. Type: 

 Hamburg Museum. Type locality: Tortugas. 

 Distribution: Taken at the type locality, also 

 Port Antonio, Jamaica, and the Campeche Bank. 

 Few fathoms depth, down to 8 to 10 fathoms. 



While it is easy to recognize this species it is 

 still uncertain whether it belongs in the family 

 Stichopodidae. Although large specimens have 

 been available, the gonads have not been well 

 preserved so it is not certain whether they are in 

 one or two tufts. 



Up to recently only few specimens have been 

 observed, but now (1951) H. HOdebrand informed 

 me that the species is "very conspicuous if not 

 abundant in trawl hauls on the Campeche Bank." 



Family 3 HOLOTHURIIDAE Ludwig, 1894 



KEY TO THE GENERA FOUND IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 



1. Anus surrounded by five conspicuous calcified "teeth." Large, clumsy forms with spicules as simple rosettes and 

 short blunt rods; no tables 1. Ac.tinopijga Bronn, p. 390 



1. Anus not surrounded by five conspicuous calcified teeth. Varying sizes. Spicules of different types. If simple 

 rosettes, no short blunt rods, but tables also present 2. Holothuria Linnaeus, p. 390 



