Corresponding author: Jéssica Prata (
Academic editor: Y. Samyn
Prata J, Christoffersen ML (2016) A new species of Pentamera Ayres, 1852 from the Brazilian coast (Holothuroidea, Dendrochirotida, Phyllophoridae). ZooKeys 634: 1–14. doi:
The order
Only seven species of
Numerous specimens associated with rodholiths from the coast of Paraíba, northeast Brazil, represent a new species.
The examined material is deposited in the Collection of Invertebrates Paulo Young, of the Department of Systematics and Ecology, Federal University of Paraíba
Small to medium sized. Ten tentacles, with two ventral ones smaller. Tube feet only in the radii, elongated, slightly retractile. Calcareous ring with moderate to long posterior processes. Body wall with tables of two pillars or derivatives of these, sometimes accompanied by plates. Tube feet with large endplates and curved supporting tables varying from low to high spire. Tentacles with rods, plates or rosettes (modified after
The diagnosis has been modified to include the new species and the fact that the type and some other species have plates in the body wall in addition to tables.
Holotype,
João Pessoa, Paraiba State, Brazil,
Paratype,
Small body, reaching 7 mm, anterior and posterior ends slightly upturned. Color brown in life and in alcohol, tube feet light brown to white. Tube feet only in the radii. Tentacles ten, branched, two ventral ones smaller. Skin thin, smooth. Body wall ossicles comprise oval tables (with disc up to 64 µm long) with four central holes, sometimes more elongated and also with smaller holes marginally and smooth multilocular plates; spire low, with two short pillars ending in 2–3 blunt teeth. Tube feet with supporting plates, curved support tables of variable height, and endplates. Tentacles with rosettes and rods. Introvert with rosettes.
The species epithet is derived from the name of the State where it was collected (Paraíba State, Brazil).
Specimen (female) small, globiform, slightly curved, length along the body 7 mm and breadth in mid-body 3 mm (Figure
Calcareous ring complex, not fragmented, with posterior processes elongated (Figure
Characteristic ossicles of body wall as oval tables with disc of usually four perforations and a low spire of two pillars (Figures
(See Table
Ossicle morphometry of , standard deviation , number of ossicles measured
Tentacle | Introvert | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rosette Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Rods Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Rosette Length (µm) | Width (µm) | ||||
Mean | 44.1 | 25.84 | 89.6 | 8.36 | 34.18 | 20.88 | |||
|
11.2 | 6.17 | 38.48 | 3.83 | 8.41 | 4.05 | |||
N | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | |||
Anterior region dorsal | |||||||||
Table | Endplate | Supporting tables | Supporting plates | ||||||
Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Diameter (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | |
Mean | 64.05 | 43.98 | 15.76 | 136.58 | 108.59 | 25.92 | 19.76 | 109.6 | 34.3 |
|
6.38 | 4.11 | 3.28 | 18.14 | 9.64 | 3.39 | 3.58 | 14.8 | 5.65 |
N | 40 | 40 | 40 | 20 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 20 | 20 |
Posterior region dorsal | |||||||||
Table | Endplate | Supporting tables | Concave plates | ||||||
Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Diameter (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | |
Mean | 60.43 | 42 | 16.84 | 120.86 | 99.58 | 30.5 | 20.09 | 72.45 | 55.65 |
|
5.58 | 4.34 | 2.51 | 54 | 8.52 | 6.41 | 2.97 | 9.45 | 10.45 |
N | 40 | 40 | 40 | 10 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 15 | 15 |
Supporting plate | |||||||||
Length (µm) | Width (µm) | ||||||||
Mean | 83.3 | 29.4 | |||||||
|
11.59 | 4 | |||||||
N | 10 | 10 | |||||||
Anterior region ventral | |||||||||
Table | Endplate | Supporting tables | Supporting plates | ||||||
Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Diameter (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | |
Mean | 60.78 | 42.21 | 15.85 | 114.33 | 109.17 | 25.28 | 19,88 | 101,26 | 26,95 |
|
5.73 | 4.71 | 2.75 | 14.96 | 8,37 | 3,65 | 3,13 | 22,91 | 4,09 |
N | 40 | 40 | 40 | 10 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 10 | 10 |
Posterior region ventral | |||||||||
Table | Endplate | Supporting tables | Supporting plates | ||||||
Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Diameter (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | Height (µm) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) | |
Mean | 58.14 | 40.57 | 18.37 | 140.46 | 108.08 | 26.51 | 17.47 | 103.34 | 28.06 |
|
5.26 | 4.17 | 3.69 | 16.3 | 11.81 | 4.69 | 2.46 | 10.13 | 6.95 |
N | 40 | 40 | 40 | 10 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 25 | 25 |
The paratypes are from 0.4 to 1 cm long. The ossicles of the body wall and other parts of the body are similar. Some tables are more elongated or have more than four perforations. The color varies from light to dark brown. Some specimens have their body dark brown and their tube feet light brown (Figures
A total of 3225 specimens was examined, measuring 3–13 mm long and 3–3.5 mm wide in the mid part, and 1–2.5 mm at the ends were examined. In general, they all present a curved form, but some specimens are elongated or only slightly curved. The body wall is dark to light brown in color, sometimes with dark spots, the tube feet varying from whitish to yellowish, and the tentacles with translucent peduncles and brown to yellow branches. Most specimens present a brown coloration, with some dark brown spots and whitish tube feet.
Bessa beach, reefs of Picãozinho, Cabo Branco beach, in Municipality of João Pessoa; Coqueirinho Beach, in municipality of Conde; with coordinates
Most specimens were inside rhodoliths, but some samples were associated with
The new species seems to shed the calcareous ring when submitted to stress. Some specimens were without the tentacles and calcareous ring, and most of them presented tentacles and the calcareous ring totally extended outside the body. This seems a defense tactic of this animal. The specimens studied agree with the diagnosis of genus
The new species
1 | Small to moderate form, cylindrical, podia in 5 bands, oval to elongated tables with four central holes and a short spire 2-pillared |
|
– | Small to moderate form, U-shaped to curved body, podia in 5 bands, circular to triangular tables, more of four central holes and short to tall spire 2-pilllared |
|
2 | Supporting tables of tube feet with a short to medium spire |
|
– | Supporting tables of tube feet with a tall spire |
|
3 | Moderate calcareous ring, supporting tables with medium spire | |
– | Long calcareous ring, supporting tables with low spire |
|
4 | oval tables with four central holes, smooth margin, without knobs and a short spire 2-pillared |
|
– | Oval tables with four central holes, with knobs and a short spire 2-pillared |
|
5 | Small oval buttons with 2 central and up to 8 marginal knobs in body wall, tentacles with round to oblong plates with perforations and knobs |
|
– | Body wall with thick oval, knobbed plates with meshwork of bumps covering one side, without buttons, tentacles with oblong reticulate plates |
|
6 | Small to moderate form, curved, tapering to blunt ends, posterior processes of calcareous ring moderate to long, body wall without triangular ossicles |
|
– | Moderate form, tapering in the ends, long posterior processes of calcareous ring, body wall with triangular ossicles |
|
7 | Crowded layer of acorn-like cups with 2-pillared, tapering spire rising from a cup-shaped base |
|
– | Without a Crowded layer of acornlike cups with 2-pillared, tapering spire rising from a cup-shaped base |
|
8 | Large, oval to triangular plates, rarely star-shaped tables, supporting tables with moderate spire, introvert with oval plates with serrate edge and blunt spines on surface |
|
– | Circular to triangular or star-shaped tables with a wide central spire, supporting tables with low bumpy spire, introvert with elongated to oval plates with numerous bumps and raised central holes |
|
9 | circular to oval tables, with smooth margin, with four or more central holes and short to tall spire 2-pilllared |
|
– | Elongated tables, with wavy margin, with four or more central holes and short to tall spire 2-pilllared |
|
10 | Introvert with plates and/ or rosettes |
|
– | Introvert with tables |
|
11 | Ossicles of body wall in one layer |
|
– | Ossicles of body wall in two layers |
|
12 | Tentacles with rosettes and plates |
|
– | Tentacles with plates only |
|
13 | Tentacles with rosettes only |
|
– | Tentacles with rosettes and plates |
|
14 | Tentacles with irregular to oval perforated plates |
|
– | Tentacles with elongated diamond-shaped plates with two large central holes, some with bumps or low pillar arch |
|
15 | Tentacles with irregular perforated plates |
|
– | Tentacles with oval perforated plates with a meshwork at center |
|
We would like to thank the reviewers Dr. Francisco Solís-Marín, Dr. Ahmed Thandar, and Dr. Yves Samyn for important contributions and constructive criticism which improved this paper. Thanks are due to Dr. Cynthia L. C. Manso for helpful comments. Thanks to Catherine Marbenya for the revision of the language. We are grateful to CETENE and Edwin R. C. Milet for assistance and access to the scanning microscopy. J.P. acknowledges the doctoral in Sciences Scholarship received from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento do Ensino Superior. M.L.C. was supported by a productivity scholarship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico.