The paracaudinid sea cucumbers of Australia and New Zealand (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Molpadida: Caudinidae) 
51 
Figure 12. a. Calcareous ring of a specimen of Paracaudina cuprea O’Loughlin and Barmos sp. nov. from Portland Bay, Victoria (NMV 
F174890) (insert with drawing of two radial plates and one interradial plate typical of Paracaudina species); b, SEM images of ossicles from a 
specimen of Paracaudina chilensis obesacauda (H. L. Clark, 1908), judged here to be typical of Paracaudina chilensis (Muller, 1850) (copied 
from Pawson et al. 2001). 
Paracaudina australis (Semper, 1868) 
Figures lb, 3, 4 
Molpadia australis Semper, 1868: 233-234, 268, pi. 39 fig 14.— 
Theel, 1886: 55. 
Caudina chilensis— H. L. Clark, 1908: 175—176. (part non 
Molpadia chilensis Muller, 1850). 
Pseudocaudina australis.— Heding, 1931: 283. 
Paracaudina australis.— Heding, 1932: 455.—Heding, 1933: 127- 
142, pi. 6 figs 5-7, pi. 7 figs 8-9, pi. 8 fig. 6.-H. L. Clark, 1935: 267- 
284.—H. L. Clark, 1946: 45 (part).-A. M. Clark and Rowe, 1971: 
193.—Pawson, 1977: 119 (part).-Rowe, 1982: 472 (part), fig. 10.35b.- 
Cannon and Silver, 1986: 40, figs 8f, 10f.—Rowe and Gates, 1995: 264 
(part). 
Material examined. Queensland, Moreton Bay, Stradbroke Island, 
Dunwich, half buried on sandbar, 2 Dec 1978, AM J13583 (1); Port 
Denison District, AM J4145 (5). 
Diagnosis. Paracaudina species up to 135 mm long, up to 35 
mm diameter (preserved); thin, pliable, soft to firm smooth 
body wall; colour translucent pink to white live, off-white to 
pale brown preserved, lacking yellow colouration, at most 
slight yellowing anteriorly; posterior body with caudal taper to 
narrow rounded end, sometimes short tail; mid-body ossicles 
predominantly plates with bluntly spinous margin and surface, 
smooth plates, rods in deeper body wall; ossicles not thick 
buttons; spinous plates irregular, pointed marginal projections, 
surface knobs / blunt spines frequently joined by rods creating 
secondary layering, rods sometimes bridging a large central 
perforation as single rod or tripod or cross, rare chilensis- like 
plates with large central perforation bridged by box on one side 
and cross on the other side, up to 12 perforations, spinous plates 
up to 56 pm long; smooth plates irregular, up to 12 perforations, 
margin smooth, lacking marginal and surface spines and 
knobs, smooth plates up to 48 pm long; rods sparse, irregular, 
variably straight, bent, Y-shaped, C-shaped, J-shaped, some 
with node, rods frequently 24 pm long, up to 48 pm long. 
Type locality. Rockhampton, Queensland. 
Distribution. Northern Australia, Queensland, south-east 
coast; Singapore (?). 
Remarks. Paracaudina australis (Semper, 1868) is 
distinguished diagnostically by having in the body wall both 
irregular rods and spinous perforated plates with secondary 
layering, a body form with tapered caudal end but not long 
discrete tail, and an absence of distinct yellow or reddish- 
yellow colour. H. L. Clark 1908 included Paracaudina australis 
in his synonymy of Caudina chilensis, but subsequently (1935, 
1946) rejected his own synonymy. Southern Australian 
specimens judged to be Paracaudina australis by H. L. Clark 
1946, Rowe 1982 and Rowe and Gates 1995 are our new species 
Paracaudina cuprea O’Loughlin and Barmos (below). 
Mortensen 1925 based his discussion of Paracaudina australis 
on SAM specimens. Based on Mortensen’s figures we judge 
that these specimens were our new species Paracaudina 
cuprea O’Loughlin and Barmos (below). We note that Heding 
1933 did not indicate what specimens he used to illustrate 
ossicles of Paracaudina australis. 
David Lane (pers. comm, by Ria Tan) identified the 
common “See-through sea cucumber” in Singapore waters as 
Paracaudina australis. Ria Tan (pers. comm.) has observed 
the species only on the estuarine northern shores of Singapore 
near the mouth of the Johor River, floating or partly buried on 
sand bars near seagrass meadows, as shallow as the intertidal 
zone at low spring tide. We have to date not been able to 
confirm the determination as Paracaudina australis. 
Paracaudina bacillis O’Loughlin and Barmos sp. nov. 
Figures 5a-f, 6a-c 
