First record of the sea cucumber Trachythyone nina (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in Canadian waters, with a redescription of the species and notes on its distribution and biology

Abstract

The original and only description of the cucumariid holothurian species Trachythyone nina (Deichmann, 1930) is based on material collected near George's Bank, by the US Fish Commission Steamer Albatross 125 years ago. No additional material of this species has been formally reported ever since. We hereby record T. nina for the first time in Canadian waters, from several sites along the continental slope of Newfoundland and Labrador (43–55° N) at depths of 1088–1308 m and from the Arctic (60° N) at 590 m, as well as from two sites near the type locality at 132–155 m along the coast of New England. A more detailed and accurate description of the species is provided, along with notes on its ecology and distribution. This tiny (≤15 mm long) gonochoric sea cucumber is usually associated with hard substrata, including deep-sea corals.

Keywords:

• Deep sea
• Dendrochirotida
• Holothuroidea
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Arctic

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the crew of the CCGS Teleost and the staff of Fisheries & Oceans, Canada (DFO) for their help. The assistance of V. Wareham, E. Hynick (DFO, St. John's) and Tim Siferd (DFO, Central and Arctic Region) was particularly appreciated. This research was partly funded by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to A. Mercier.

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark