Scotoplanes globosa ( Théel, 1879 )

Mackenzie, Melanie, Davey, Niki, Burghardt, Ingo & Haines, Margaret L., 2024, A report of sea cucumbers collected on the first dedicated deep-sea biological survey of Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories around Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), Memoirs of Museum Victoria (Mem. Mus. Vic.) 83, pp. 207-316 : 222-224

Scotoplanes globosa ( Théel, 1879)

Figure 11a–f, Appendix 1, Table S1

Elpidia globosa Théel, 1879: 14–15 , figs 17–19.

Elpidia murrayi Théel, 1879: 16 , figs 23–25.

Scotoplanes globosa . — Théel 1882: 29–31, pls. 4, 5: 3, 34: 8–9, 36: 5–6, 44: 12.— Vaney 1908: 409–410, pl. 3: 25–28.—Hansen 1956: 40–41.—D’yakonov et al., 1958: 360.— Agatep 1967: 55–57, pl. 4: 1–13.— Hansen, 1975: 167–169, fig. 83: 9–12, 95: 4, pl. 9: 9.— Gebruk, 1983 (in Russian): 1362–1364, fig. 1: 1–11.— Thandar 1999: 391–392, figs 10, 15f. — O’Loughlin et al., 2020: 21, add. file 1: sup. table S1.

Scotoplanes murrayi (Théel) .— Théel 1882: 34, pls. 3: 3–4: 34: 2, 44: 4; Savel’eva 1966, p. 295, pl. 64: 7.

Scotoplanes theeli .—Ohshima, 1915, pp. 242–243.—Ohshima 1916–1919, 3 figs.

Material examined. NMV F308303 (4) [IN 2022 V 08 157] .

Diagnosis of IOT material. Specimens small and damaged with minimal features; soft, round to oval “pigs” up to 40 mm long and 24 mm wide (preserved). Light pink with smooth, thin, and partially transparent skin. Mouth terminal to ventral with ring of mostly removed orange/red tentacles. Specimens grey when preserved. Anus subdorsal to terminal. Discrete tube feet along outer sides of ventrally flattened sole and some evidence of dorsal papillae. Ossicles only S. globosa type rods (104–376 μm) and small Cs (32–56 μm). Rods variably spinous, particularly distally, and Cs variably individual or clumped (fig. 11e).

Remarks. These specimens are small compared to one type specimen recorded at 18 cm long ( Théel, 1879), and the single ~ 5 cm specimen collected previously from Australian waters ( O’Loughlin et al., 2020), however specimens have been recorded from off Cape Point, South Africa, at a maximum size of 15 mm ( Thandar, 1999).

Distribution. Largely cosmopolitan (excluding North Atlantic) and typically at depths of over 1000 m.

Full bathymetric range. 545–6770 m ( Hansen, 1975 in reference to Ohshima, 1915 and Thandar, 1999) (IOT 1019– 1023 m).

Type locality (as Elpidia globosa ). Southern Indian Ocean south of Australia, 3566 m , and South Pacific Ocean off Chile, 3950 m .

This species not previously recorded from Australia in AFD but recorded from a single station in Freycinet Marine Park off north-east Tasmania at 2751–2820 m in ALA (January 2024). This IOT material represents a geographic range extension for the species in Australia .

References. AFD (2024), ALA (2024), Gebruk (1983), Hansen (1956), Hansen (1975), O’Loughlin, Mackenzie and O’Hara in O’Hara et al. (2020), Thandar (1999), Théel (1879), Théel (1882), Takano et al. (2019).