ABSTRACT
Knowledge of the southern African deep sea Holothuroidea is scanty but comes from several collections. Of the 112 species of holothuroids currently known from this region, south of the tropic of Capricorn, only 35 species occur in water depths greater than 100 m. Of these as many as 19 are known from single localities and are hence discounted. Of the remaining 16 species, five abyssal species. There is no record of holothuroids from the east coast in waters between 40–400 m. This is perhaps due both to the hostile topography of the sea bed and to the southward migrating submarine dunes in water depths greater than 50 m. This massive sediment transport must form a powerful physical barrier to most benthic organisms.
