New psychropotid species (Echinodermata, Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) of the Western Pacific with phylogenetic analyses

By

Yu, Chuan
Zhang, Dongsheng
Zhang, Ruiyan
Wang, Chunsheng

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-3-9

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1088

Pages

99--114

Subjects

Benthodytes , deep-sea , Holothurians , Psychropotes , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1088.69141

 

Abstract

Holothurians of the family Psychropotidae are widely distributed but remain the least studied deep-sea holothurians. On an expedition to the Western Pacific, six psychropotid specimens were collected by the Jiaolong Human Operated Vehicle (HOV). Through morphological examination, four of them were identified as a new species, Benthodytes jiaolongisp. nov., which was characterized as having minute papillae, a narrow brim, and a terminal anus; and the ossicles were rods and primary crosses. The remaining two specimens were identified as Psychropotes verrucicaudatus Xiao, Gong, Kou & Li, 2019, first recorded at the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The phylogenetic analysis showed that B. jiaolongisp. nov. and P. verrucicaudatus were embedded in the clades Benthodytes and Psycheotrephes, respectively, and that Benthodytes was paraphyletic. The new species clustered with Benthodytes sanguinolenta and was separated from the clade containing the other Benthodytes species.