Pentamera paraibanensissp. n. is described from more than 3000 specimens as a new species of Phyllophoridae from northeast Brazil, in the tropical southwestern Atlantic. It is distinguished from its congeners by the shape of the calcareous ring with moderate posterior processes, and by the tables in the body wall with a usually quadrilocular disc and a low, toothed spire composed of two pillars...

The recently erected phyllophorid genus Massinium Samyn & Thandar, 2003 hithertho held three species: the southern African endemics Massinium arthroprocessum (Thandar, 1989) and M. maculosum Samyn & Thandar, 2003 (type species), and the central Indo-Pacific M. magnum (Ludwig, 1882). Careful examination of the incomplete holotype of M. magnum and material assigned to this species from various mu...

Havelockia pegi sp. nov., is here described from shallow waters of the Argentine Sea. This new species is distinctive in the purple colouration of its tentacles, scarcity of body wall ossicles and the presence of rosette-shaped ossicles in both the introvert and the tentacles. It is not closely related to any of its congenors. This is the first record of a true sclerodactylid from Argentina. Th...

Taxonomic and biological aspects are presented on five species of shallow water holothurians from the Cayos Cochinos Biological Reserve-CCBR located on the northern Honduran shelf, western Caribbean at 16 degrees N, 86 degrees W. This article provides a taxonomic key of the recorded holothurians and morphometric/morphologic descriptions of their corresponding spicules. These five species belong...

A new species of sea cucumber of the genus Lissothuria Verrill, 1867 is described. Lissothuria caboblanquensis n. sp. was found in the Costa Rican Pacific, at 17 m depth. The presence of towers with spiny apex and the elaborated shape of the hourglasses in the dorsal body wall, make this species unique among the species of this genus. This species is distinctive within the genus. The shape of t...

BACKGROUND Natural products isolated from marine environments are well known for their pharmacodynamic potential in diverse disease treatments, such as for cancer or inflammatory conditions. Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the phylum Echinoderm and the class Holothuroidea, with leathery skin and gelatinous bodies. Sponges are important components of Persian Gulf animal communities, and the ...