A NEW GENUS AND 3 NEW SPECIES OF DEEP-SEA HOLOTHUROIDS FROM THE WEST-COAST OF SOUTH-AFRICA (ECHINODERMATA)

One new genus and three new species of deep-sea holothuroids, taken by the South African Division of Sea Fisheries R.S. Africana II routine trawls, off the west coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa in 19 59, are described. A new genus Psolidothuria, perhaps referable to the dactylochirotid family Vaneyellidae, is erected for the new species P . octodactyla. The remaining new species are Paracucumaria capense, in the dendrochirotid family Cucumariidae, and Laetmogone perplexa, in t he elasipodid family Laetmogonidae. P. capense was originally describe d as Trachythyone ?parva (Ludwig) by Thandar (1991). The diagnosis of the family Vaneyellidae is amended to accommodate the new genus.