January-April, 2013 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 31 Nos. 5-6 
25 MARCH 2013, ECHINODERMS, CSD 
Attendance: Megan Lilly, Robin Gartman, CSD; Fred Stem, Don Cadien, Larry Lovell, Cheryl 
Brantley, LACSD; Laura Terriquez, Miehael Vendraseo, OCSD; Greg Lyon, Craig Campbell, 
CLAEMD; Tony Phillips, eonsultant; Dean Pasko, eonsultant. 
Larry opened the meeting with introduetions and then went right in to announeing upeoming 
meetings. The next meeting will be Monday April 15 at SCCWRP, and will be a Speeies List 
Review Committee meeting. The SCAMIT symposium at SCAS 2013 (May 3-4 CSULB) has 
been seheduled. So far 7 talks are lined up and the symposium is Friday afternoon from 1:20 - 
5:00. Larry reminded everyone that the 2013 Offieer Eleetions ballots are due to Eeslie Mareh 
29. The next Cmstaeean Soeiety Meeting will be July 7-11 in San Jose, Costa Riea. Earry also 
announeed that the SCAMIT Pienie will be held at Doheny State Beaeh in late July. Volunteers 
are needed to help with the set-up and elean-up. 
The question of Bight’ 13 speeialty taxa was raised. What taxa are in need of speeial assignment 
or study? With John Ejubenkov’s untimely departure there may be a need to have Cnidaria 
repeated as a speeialty group; otherwise, everyone will be on their own to figure out these diffieult 
taxa. 
With that it was time to start the eehinoderm portion of the meeting. Don Cadien started the 
meeting by providing a short review of eertain eehinoderm literature. Don will make the list of 
new eehinoderm literature available, although he warned that most of it does NOT relate to west 
eoast taxonomy. Some artieles relate to west eoast eehinoderm eeology, partieularly of the threat 
to the loeal asteroid Pisaster resulting from warm water intrusion. Some papers out of Alaska 
inelude speeies reviews and systematie rearrangement; but none of these impaet us. One paper 
diseussed the faet that Leptasterias is no longer L. hexactus, based on mierostruetural differenees, 
but the taxon needs to be reviewed and renamed. This topie will be researehed by Dr. Doug 
Eemisee. 
Holothurian-related literature also ineluded nothing related to west eoast taxonomy, but ineluded 
an interesting artiele on Antaretie tanaids that burrow into the dermis of holothurians as parasites/ 
parasitoids. 
There was also an interesting paper diseussing oeeanie aeidifieation impaets on larval 
eehinoderms. Earval eehinoderms, it turns out, have to utilize additional resourees (energy) to 
overeome the sparse availability of ealeium neeessary to ereate their skeleton. This is putting 
stress on their survival. 
Eehinoderm phylogeny was somewhat upset by the deep sea Xyloplax, a pedomorphie 
eehinoderm that was previously unreeognized as a member of this phyla. 
Don finished up his literature overview and Megan Eilly then began a review of some problematie 
holothuroids. She started out with some basie limitations to holothuroid identifieation. First, 
speeimens need to be at least 1 em in total length in order for ossiele development to be 
determinate. The ossieles of smaller speeimens may not be ftilly developed, whieh eould result 
in a mis-identifieation. Some deep sea taxa may be exempt from this rule beeause several of 
those taxa have a limited maximum size. Seeond, when performing ossiele mounts, you need to 
mount tissue from both the tube feet and the body wall. Even the “eommon” Pentamera needs 
to be disseeted beeause there are a minimum of five to six possible speeies represented in the 
8 
Publication Date: 28 July 2016 
