Phyllophoridae Explained

Phyllophoridae is a family of sea cucumbers, marine invertebrates with elongated bodies, leathery skins and feeding tentacles.

Members of the family are characterised by a complex ring of calcareous ossicles arranged in a tube, making a mosaic pattern. The tentacles number ten to twenty-five. Some members have spindle-shaped bodies whilst others are buried in the substrate and adopt a U-shaped form.^[1]

Genera

The following genera are recognised in the family Phyllophoridae:^[2]

• Allothyone Panning, 1949
• Anthochirus Chang, 1948
• Cladolella Heding & Panning, 1954
• Ekmanothyone Massin, 1993
• Hemithyone Pawson, 1963
• Lipotrapeza Clark, 1938
• Massinium Samyn & Thandar, 2003
• Neopentadactyla Deichmann, 1944
• Neothyonidium Deichmann, 1938
• Pentadactyla Hutton, 1878
• Pentamera Ayres, 1852
• Phyllophorella Heding & Panning, 1954
• Phyllophorus Grube, 1840
• Phyllostauros O'Loughlin in O'Loughlin, Barmos & VandenSpiegel, 2012
• Phyrella Heding & Panning, 1954
• Pseudoplacothuria Yamana & Kohtsuka, 2018
• Selenkiella Heding & Panning, 1954
• Stolus Selenka, 1867
• Thorsonia Heding, 1940
• Thyone Oken, 1815
• Thyonina Thandar, 1990
• Triasemperia O'Loughlin in O'Loughlin et al., 2014

Notes and References

1. http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/dna/organisms/listing/20/1/156 Phyllophoridae
2. Web site: WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Phyllophoridae Östergren, 1907. 2021-07-16. www.marinespecies.org.