Holothuria (Metriatyla) fuligina Cherbonnier, 1988: 133, fig. 54A-P; Samyn, 2003: 47, 55.
Type data: EcHh 2887; Station 694, Tuléar (Madagascar), unknown depth (intertidal according to original publication); coll.: B. Thomassin; 29.IV.1972; well preserved; poorly relaxed; ventro-longitudinal dissection; calcareous ring and associated structures have been removed; specimen eviscerated.
Anatomical description: 35 mm long; 10-13 mm wide; bivium arched; trivium flattened; mouth ventral; anus terminal; dorsal body wall dark grey; ventral body wall white to beige; tentacles greyish; dorsal appendages grey; ventral tube feet grey; dorsal appendages few, dispersed regularily over complete bivium; ventral tube feet, few, in distinct rows along the ambulacrae; bivium and trivium not separated by lateral fringe of appendages; body wall 3 mm thick, rough to the touch; tentacles small, number could not be counted; radial plates with slightly indented posterior side; radial plates wider than interradial ones; radial plates 1,5-2 times longer than interradial ones; number of tentacle ampullae could not be determined; two Polian vesicles, 5,5 and 7 mm long; presence of stone canals could not be determined; gonad not observed; longitudinal muscles bifid, wide, free at edges. Cuvierian tubules absent.
Ossicle description: tentacles with curved and spiny rods of various sizes; dorsal body wall with tables with disc with smooth undulating rim, four central holes and several rings of peripheral holes, short spire ending in a small spiny crown and nodulous buttons with 3-8 pairs of holes; ventral body wall with buttons similar but shorter (up to 5 pairs of holes) than those of dorsal body wall and tables with disc with only 1-2 rings of peripheral holes; ossicle appendage of dorsal appendages could not be assessed; ventral tube feet with buttons and tables similar to those of the ventral tube feet and in addition perforated rods with central and distal widening; longitudinal muscles devopid of ossicles; cloaca and respiratory tree with spiny plate-like rods and plates; ossicle assemblage of cloacal retractor muscles, gonad, rete mirabile and gut could not be assessed.
Known distribution: only known from the type locality.
Taxonomic decision: junior subjective synonym of Holothuria scabra Jaeger, 1833
Remarks: Cherbonnier (1988) also mentions a single paratype (EcHh 2895), that specimen was however not found in the Paris collection.
For original description click here.
{morfeo 37}
