©Anne Hoggett: Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) isuga as found on sand away from reef at about 17 m depth near Cobia Hole, Lizard Island. About 22 cm long. Thanks to Dr Steve Purcell for the identification.
©Anne Hoggett: Underside of Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) isuga about 22 cm long, found on sand away from reef at about 17 m depth near Cobia Hole, Lizard Island. Ventral podia have white tips.
©Anne Hoggett: Ventral posterior view of Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) isuga about 22 cm long, found on sand away from reef at about 17 m depth near Cobia Hole, Lizard Island.
Colours
Distinguishing features
Rusty brown to black with numerous pointed papillae on the dorsal surface, some of which are much longer than most. Ventral surface flat with many white-tipped podia. Body wall is thin and soft. No Cuverian tubules.
This species was formerly identified in LIFG as Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) fuscorubra, which was considered a senior synonym of H. (M.) isuga by Rowe and Gates (1995). We can find no formal taxonomic revival of H. (M.) isuga but WORMS lists it as an accepted name (accessed 8 May 2022).
Here we follow Purcell et al (2009) who note:
"A relatively common species of little commercial value in New Caledonia, previously called Holothuria sp. 1 by Conand (Figure 4, 1989), was determined to be Holothuria isuga through discussion with Chantal Conand, Maria Byrne and overseas taxonomists. It is rusty brown, with large papillae, and buries most of its soft body in sediments."
Size
- Up to 50 cm (length according to Byrne, 2019)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
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Animalia:
species: Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) fuscorubra
was formerly considered the senior synonym for H. isuga (Rowe and Gates, 1995) but the two are now both accepted names (WORMS accessed 8 May 2022).
Distribution
Web resources
References
References that assist with identification
-
Byrne, M.
(2019).
Spawning observations of the sea cucumbers Stichopus chloronotus and Holothuria isuga from One Tree Reef lagoon, southern Great Barrier Reef. SPC Beche-de-Mer Information Bulletin, 42: 90-91.
[
Check year of publication, not on pdf. Must be between 2019 and 2022.
] - Purcell, S.W., H. Gossuin and N.S. Agudo (2009). Status and management of the sea cucumber fishery of La Grande Terre, New Caledonia: Programme ZoNeCo. WorldFish Centre Studies and Reviews No, 1901. 183 pp. The WorldFish Centre, Penang, Malaysia.
- Rowe, F.W.E. and J. Gates (1995). Echinodermata in: Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 33, xiii, 510 pp. Wells, A. (Ed.). CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia.
- View all references