Comprehensive Description
(
anglais
)
fourni par Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Stylocidaris lineata Mortensen
Stylocidaris lineata.—For a complete synonymy see Mortensen, 1928, p. 342; for an additional description see Mortensen, 1910, p. 10.
The naked test of S. lineata is indistinguishable from that of S. affinis except for the apical system and suture color. Only these features are discussed here.
The apical system has a reddish nearly naked ring lacking granular tubercles crossing all genital plates (Plate 19: figures 2, 5). The granules on either side of the naked ring are radially elongate. The ambulacral midline suture and all interambulacral sutures are reddish brown (Plate 19: figures 4, 5), even on specimens only a few millimeters in diameter. This is a very important diagnostic feature of S. lineata and probably the least variable, because the color is almost always the same and withstands years of alcohol and dry storage with great durability. The primary spines are white with delicate spinules, visible to the naked eye. Length of the spines is from 1.5 to slightly more than 2 times the horizontal diameter of the test- The scrobicular and marginal spines are white and lack a midzone stripe.
COMPARISON WITH S. affinis.—Three significant features distinguish S. lineata from S. affinis. The scrobicular and marginal spines of S. lineata are white and without a midline stripe, whereas those of S. affinis have a prominent reddish-midline stripe with a white to greenish edge (Plate 18: figure 4; Plate 19: figure 3). The apical system of S. lineata has a naked reddish ring lacking small granular tubercles. The tubercles are radially elongated on each side of the ring. No naked ring is present in the apical system of S. affinis. The tubercles are round and scattered over the apical system (Plate 19: figure 1), which is commonly reddish to reddish brown. The midline sutures of the ambulacra and all interambulacral sutures of S. lineata are reddish brown (Plate 19: figure 4). Whereas those of S. affinis are white (Plate 19: figure 3). Additional comparisons follow the description of S. affinis.
The description of the naked test of S. affinis applies to S. lineata with the exception of the apical system and the suture color.
DISTRIBUTION.—West Indies, at depths of 100–500 meters. It may be frequently found living with S. affinis.
- citation bibliographique
- Phelan, Thomas Francis. 1970. "A field guide to the Cidaroid echinoids of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 1-67. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.40
