Holothuria (Metriatyla) lessoni
©Lyle Vail: Holothuria (Metriatyla) lessoni close to Lizard Island Research Station in the early 1980s. Identification confirmed by Dr Steve Purcell (Southern Cross University), who notes "They can be light coloured like this, but more often a bit more tan coloured on the dorsal surface. Sometimes with blotches, sometimes not. The long dark papillae are characteristic of the species."
©Steven Purcell: Three colour forms of Holothuria (Metriatyla) lessoni in New Caledonia. Genetic analysis (Uthicke et al, 2005) has shown that these forms are all the same species. Click on image for URL of licence conditions.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Echinodermata
Class
Holothuroidea
Order
Aspidochirotida
Family
Holothuriidae
Genus
Holothuria
Species
Holothuria (Metriatyla) lessoni
Colours
Distinguishing features
They can be light coloured like this, but more often a bit more tan coloured on the dorsal surface. Sometimes with blotches, sometimes not. The long dark papillae are characteristic of the species.
Size
- Up to 46 cm and averaging 30 cm (Length according to Purcell et al, 2012)
Depth range
- Up to 20 m (according to Purcell et al, 2012)
Synonyms
Comments
Grant Leeworthy (Tasmanian Seafoods) confirmed in August 2014 that he has recorded this species from the Lizard Island area. Tasmanian Seafoods was the source of specimens for Bahrami et al (2014).
by Anne Hoggett
Distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: Extremely rare in reef habitat but may be more common in inter-reef habitat. The photographed specimen appears to be the only record from areas normally accessed by LIRS researchers on snorkel or scuba.
Web resources
References
- Bahrami, Y., W. Zhang, T. Chataway and C. Franco (2014). Structure elucidation of five novel isomeric saponins from the viscera of the sea cucumber Holothuria lessoni, Marine Drugs, 12: 4439-4473. LIRS catalog number 10070.
- Massin, C., S. Uthicke, S.W. Purcell, F.W.E. Rowe and Y. Samyn (2009). Taxonomy of the heavily exploited Indo-Pacific sandfish complex (Echinodermata: Holothuriidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 155: 40-59. LIRS catalog number 90264.
- Purcell, S.W., Y. Samyn and C. Conand (2012). Commercially important sea cucumbers of the world 150 pp., 30 pl. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
- View all references