Benthodytes violeta, a new species of a deep-sea holothuroid (Elasipodida: Psychropotidae) from Mar del Plata Canyon (south-western Atlantic Ocean)

Abstract

A new species of elasipodid holothuroid, Benthodytes violeta sp. nov., is described from the Mar del Plata Canyon off Buenos Aires Province (around 38ºS–54ºW). It was taken at four locations at depths ranging from 1500 to 1950 m. This new species has a violet gelatinous body of up to 200 mm in length, with eight pairs of dorsal appendages, lateral festooned edges and four rows of tube feet ventrally. Body wall ossicles comprise rods and crosses with three or four arms and a central bipartite apophysis borne on the primary cross; tentacles and gonad deposits comprise rods and crosses with three and four arms. This is the first report of a holothuroid from the Mar del Plata Canyon area.