Benthodytes

Benthodytes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Holothuroidea
Order:	Elasipodida
Family:	Psychropotidae
Genus:	Benthodytes
Species:	Benthodytes
Binomial name
	Benthodytes; Théel, 1882[1]

Benthodytes is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Psychropotidae.[3]

Benthodytes sanguinolenta[2].

Discovery

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]

Anatomy

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]

Significance

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]

Species

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 abyssicola
Benthodytes gosarsi
Benthodytes incerta
Benthodytes lingua
Benthodytes manuensis
Benthodytes marianensis
Benthodytes plana
Benthodytes sanguinolenta
Benthodytes sibogae
Benthodytes superba
Benthodytes typica
Benthodytes valdiviae
Benthodytes violeta
Benthodytes wolffi

References

Théel, H. (1882). Report on the Holothuroidea dredged by H.M.S. 'Challenger' during the years 1873-76. Part i. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876. Zoology. 4 (part 13): i-ix, 1-176, pl. 1-46., available online at http://19thcenturyscience.org/HMSC/HMSC-Reports/Zool-13/htm/doc.html
Glover A, Wiklund H, Rabone M, Amon D, Smith C, O'Hara T, Mah C, Dahlgren T (2016) Abyssal fauna of the UK-1 polymetallic nodule exploration claim, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean: Echinodermata. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7251. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7251
"Benthodytes". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species.
Théel, H. (1882). Report on the Holothuroidea dredged by H.M.S. 'Challenger' during the years 1873-76. Part i. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876. Zoology. 4 (part 13): i-ix, 1-176, pl. 1-46., available online at http://19thcenturyscience.org/HMSC/HMSC-Reports/Zool-13/htm/doc.htm
"WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Benthodytes Théel, 1882". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
Rodrigues, Nimi; Sharma, Rahul; Nagender Nath, B (2001-01-01). "Impact of benthic disturbance on megafauna in Central Indian Basin". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. Indian Deep-sea Environment Experiment (INDEX). 48 (16): 3411–3426. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(01)00049-2. ISSN 0967-0645.
Amon D J, Ziegler A F, Kremenetskaia A, Mah C L, Mooi R, O’Hara T, Pawson D L, Roux M, Smith C R. Megafauna of the UKSRL exploration contract area and eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean: Echinodermata. Biodiversity Data Journal. May 2017; 5. e11794. 10.3897/BDJ.5.e11794.
Bisol P M, Costa R, Sibuet M. Ecological and genetical survey on two deep-sea holothurians: Benthogone rosea and Benthodytes typica. Marine Ecology Progress Series. December 1983; 15 (3): 275-281. DOI: 10.3354/meps015275.
Mu, Wendan; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Haibin (2018-11-30). Ruggeri, Paolo (ed.). "Complete mitochondrial genome of Benthodytes marianensis (Holothuroidea: Elasipodida: Psychropotidae): Insight into deep sea adaptation in the sea cucumber". PLOS ONE. 13 (11): e0208051. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0208051. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6267960. PMID 30500836.
"WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Benthodytes Théel, 1882". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
Bluhm, Hartmut; Gebruk, Andrej (1999). "Holothuroidea (Echinodermata) of the Peru Basin - Ecological and Taxonomic Remarks Based on Underwater Images". Marine Ecology. 20 (2): 167–195. doi:10.1046/j.1439-0485.1999.00072.x. ISSN 1439-0485.