Benthodytes | |
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Benthodytes sanguinolenta [2] | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Holothuroidea |
Order: | Elasipodida |
Family: | Psychropotidae |
Genus: |
Benthodytes Théel, 1882 [1] |
Benthodytes is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Psychropotidae. [3]
This group of sea cucumbers was first described by scientists aboard the H.M.S. Challenger during its 1873-1876 voyage. [4] Théel described the genus: "Body more or less depressed, with the anterior part of its brim rather large. Mouth ventral, at a greater distance from the foremost extremity of the body. Anus posterior, dorsal, usually almost terminal. Tentacles (?) twelve to twenty. Pedicels arranged in a single row round the brim of the body and in a double one along the odd ambulacrum. The dorsal surface seldom naked, commonly with a greater or smaller number of retractile or non-retractile, more or less inconsiderable processes, arranged in a single row all along each ambulacrum or in an irregular double row, or scattered over the lateral interambulacrae." [4] Théel also documented the details of species B. typica, B. sanguinolenta, and B. abyssicola. [4]
Among Psychropotidae, Benthodytes (synonym Benthodites) are characterized by "soft retractile tentacles, circum-oral or post-oral papillae and the absence of an unpaired dorsal appendage." [5]
Several species of Benthodytes are good indicators of the potential impacts of deep-sea mining and have been the subject of multiple studies. [6] [7] Identification of distinct species is most often based on photography, since the delicate anatomy of the sea cucumbers is often damaged in the process of sampling. [6] Genome sequencing technology is paving the way for more accurate accounts of the evolution and taxonomy of Benthodytes species, starting with B. rosea and B. typica. [8] Additionally, the mitochondrial genome of B. marianensis has been sequenced and was found to contain a novel gene arrangement among holothurians that could be an adaptation allowing for survival at great depths. [9]
Several species included in the genus Benthodytes have been reclassified using different nomenclature. [10] This list is subject to change as phylogenetic data clarifies the relationships among difficult-to-identify creatures whose soft appendages are often lost in the process of sample collection. [11]
Benthodytes | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Benthodytes sanguinolenta [2] | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Holothuroidea |
Order: | Elasipodida |
Family: | Psychropotidae |
Genus: |
Benthodytes Théel, 1882 [1] |
Benthodytes is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Psychropotidae. [3]
This group of sea cucumbers was first described by scientists aboard the H.M.S. Challenger during its 1873-1876 voyage. [4] Théel described the genus: "Body more or less depressed, with the anterior part of its brim rather large. Mouth ventral, at a greater distance from the foremost extremity of the body. Anus posterior, dorsal, usually almost terminal. Tentacles (?) twelve to twenty. Pedicels arranged in a single row round the brim of the body and in a double one along the odd ambulacrum. The dorsal surface seldom naked, commonly with a greater or smaller number of retractile or non-retractile, more or less inconsiderable processes, arranged in a single row all along each ambulacrum or in an irregular double row, or scattered over the lateral interambulacrae." [4] Théel also documented the details of species B. typica, B. sanguinolenta, and B. abyssicola. [4]
Among Psychropotidae, Benthodytes (synonym Benthodites) are characterized by "soft retractile tentacles, circum-oral or post-oral papillae and the absence of an unpaired dorsal appendage." [5]
Several species of Benthodytes are good indicators of the potential impacts of deep-sea mining and have been the subject of multiple studies. [6] [7] Identification of distinct species is most often based on photography, since the delicate anatomy of the sea cucumbers is often damaged in the process of sampling. [6] Genome sequencing technology is paving the way for more accurate accounts of the evolution and taxonomy of Benthodytes species, starting with B. rosea and B. typica. [8] Additionally, the mitochondrial genome of B. marianensis has been sequenced and was found to contain a novel gene arrangement among holothurians that could be an adaptation allowing for survival at great depths. [9]
Several species included in the genus Benthodytes have been reclassified using different nomenclature. [10] This list is subject to change as phylogenetic data clarifies the relationships among difficult-to-identify creatures whose soft appendages are often lost in the process of sample collection. [11]