ABSTRACT
Fifteen specimens of a shallow-water, sanddwelling, polytentaculate holothuroid, dredged at 20 meters from off the Bluff in Durban, South Africa, are new to science and here described as Phyllophorus (Phyllophorella) rosetta sp. nov. The new species is distinct in possessing an abundance of rosettes in all parts of the body wall, in combination with tables typical of those found in the Phyllophorus subgenus Phyllophorella Heding and Panning, 1954. The latter type of spicules are common in the posterior body wall of most specimens, although they may be scarce or absent in some specimens. In the form of its tables and rosettes, the new species appears to be closely related to P. (P.) contractura Cherbonnier, 1988, described from Madagascar, from which it differs in the structure of the calcareous ring, the number of polian vesicles and the presence of rosettes thoughout the body wall, instead of being restricted to the anal region. Since the presence of rosettes is a characteristic feature of another phyllophorid genus Lipotrapeza Clark, 1938, also characterised by 20 tentacles, the new species, together with P. (P.) contractura, offers a good intermediate between this genus and Phyllophorus. Since Lipotrapeza was erected to especially accommodate those phyllophorids without body wall spicules, except in the anal region, the new species cannot be referred to it.
