Stichopus noctivagus Cherbonnier, 1980: 654, fig. 19A-P, pl. 1A (B/W plate); Féral & Cherbonnier, 1986: 96 (colour plate); Kerr et al., 1992: 213, pl. 1C (colour plate); Allen & Steene, 1994: 245 (colour plate); Colin & Arneson, 1995: 262, fig. 1239 (colour plate); Pawson, 1995: 180; ? Gosliner et al., 1996: 281, fig. 1033 (colour plate); Erhardt & Baensch, 1998: 1094 (colour plate); Massin, 1999: 65, figs 53a-m, 54 (map), 112a (colour plate); Chao, 2002: 4, fig. 11 (colour plate); Paulay, 2003: 577; Samyn, 2003: 88; Marsh & Morrison, 2004: 303, 339.
Type data: EcHh 3073; Cap Bégat (New Caledonia); coll. Unknown, unknown date (at night); 20 m depth; well preserved; well relaxed; ventro-longitudinal dissectioncalcareous ring and attached structures removed; eviscerated
Anatomical description: 120 mm long; 17-29 mm wide; bivium arched; trivium distinctly flattened; mouth ventral; anus terminal; dorsal body wall beige with dark circles around dorsal papillae; ventral body wall beige; tentacles dark brown; ventral tube feet beige; dorsal appendages dark brown, papillae with white tip; dorsal appendages spread regularly over complete bivium; ventral tube feet spread over trivium, but mainly along ambulacrae; bivium and trivium not separated by lateral fringe of appendages; body wall 2 mm thick, rough to the touch; 18 large tentacles counted; radial plates with posterior median prolongation; radial plates 2-3 times wider than interradial ones; number of tentacle ampullae could not be determined; single Polian vesicle observed; number and size of stone canals could not be determined; gonad in single tuft; tubules ramified; longitudinal muscles bifid, narrow, very flat attached at edges; cloaca 8 mm long; Cuvierian tubules absent
Ossicle description: tentacles with curved spiny rods of various sizes, smallest ones generally smooth; dorsal and ventral body wall with tables with disc perforated by four central holes and few other perforations, rim smooth and undulating, 4 pillars, 1-2 cross beams ending in a narrow spiny crown; dorsal papillae with C- and S-shaped rods, tables as in body wall as well as tack-like tables with rather low spire and with curved rods; ventral tube feet with tables as in body wall as well as with large perforated plates and rods with lateral, perforated extension; rete mirabile with irregular branching rods; longitudinal and cloacal retractor muscles, gonad and cloaca devoid of ossicles; ossicle assemblage of respiratory tree was not assessed.
Known distribution: Indonesia (Sulawesi), Philippines, Taiwan, Australia (Dampier Archipelago, Mariana Islands (Guam), Palau Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, (?) Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomic decision: valid species (confirmed after examination of the holotype).
For original description click here.
{morfeo 69}