A NEW RECORD OF ATHYONE GLASSELLI 

 (DEICHMANN) 



By 



Elisabeth Deichmann 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 



On March 23, 1954, Mr. Gil Bane of Los Altos, California, col- 

 lected two holothurians at Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. They were found 

 about 10 yards from the water edge, covered by sand. Although this is 

 a common habit of many holothurians, the poor condition of the speci- 

 mens — the anterior end lost and most of the inner organs ejected — made 

 one suspect that in this case the animals had lived at slightly greater 

 depth and were washed up after a storm and had later accidentally been 

 covered by sand. 



Examination of the spicules proved that the two specimens repre- 

 sented Athyone glasselli (Deichmann) of which hitherto only the type 

 was known. The latter was collected in 1936 by Mr. Steve Glassell, at 

 Punta Penasco, about 200 miles north of Guaymas. The type was taken 

 in shallow water, likewise covered by sand, but the oral end with the 

 tentacles was present although the animal succeeded in ejecting most of 

 its inner organs when captured. One may therefore conclude that the 

 species normally does live hidden in sand, in shallow water. 



In spite of the poor condition of the present material, which looks 

 like two old flattened tennis balls, it supplements the original descrip- 

 tion, especially with regard to the earlier stages of the spicules. A new 

 description is therefore given, with some remarks about the possible rela- 

 tion of this form to Troschel's material of "Anaperus peruana" and to 

 the common "Thyone" of the Gulf of Mexico, T. briareus. 



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