Holothuroidea from Chile report no. 46 of the Lund University Chile Expedition 1948–1949

Abstract

A total of 509 specimens, representing 11 genera and 12 species, were collected by the Lund University Chile Expedition 1958 – 59, and are described here. There are no new taxa or new records but the collection affords valuable new data on the distribution of several species, their bathymétric range and habitat preference. A key to the Chilean holothurians is given, together with a checklist of the 27 species now known from the area. A second small collection of 13 specimens from another source includes two specimens of Ypsilothuria bitentaculata (Ludwig), a new record for the Chilean region. The holothurian fauna of Chile is notable in that it appears to include no members of the Order Aspidochirotida in shallow water, although one species is common at Juan Fernandez. Less than 15 per cent of the species are endemic, about 50 per cent are shared with Argentina, and about 33 per cent are more or less widely distributed in the subantarctic islands. It is likely that a significant part of the fauna was derived from a pool of circumpolar species; at the generic level, some relationships with the Indo-west-Pacific generally are evident.