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Siphons and siphonal grooves in the digestive systems of the Echinoidea (Echinodermata)

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Abstract

Here we use histological sections and, to a limited extent, scanning electron microscopy to ascertain whether siphons or siphonal grooves parallel the stomach of five sea urchin species representing five higher taxa in the Echinoidea. We find a siphonal groove in Centrostephanus coronatus of the Diadematidae and in Caenopedina diomedeae of the Pedinidae; we find a siphon in Tromikosoma panamense of the Echinothurioida and in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus of the Camarodonta; and we find a hemisiphon in Aspidodiadema hawaiiense of the Aspidodiadematidae (it is currently unsettled whether this last group belongs in the Pedinoida or the Diadematoida). Several recent accounts of echinoid gut anatomy have claimed that species in the Echinothurioida have a siphonal groove instead of a siphon and that species in the Diadematidae and Pedinidae have siphons instead of siphonal grooves. The present work shows that these claims are mistakes and confirms that Holland and Ghiselin (1970) correctly described the distribution of siphons and siphonal grooves in the Echinoidea.

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Acknowledgments

Because the issues considered here are contentious, we wish to make clear that those who helped us do not necessarily take our side in the argument. That said, we thank: Dave Pawson and Cynthia Ahearn for specimens from the Invertebrate Zoology Collection of the US National Museum; Greg Rouse for help with our photography and for specimens from the Benthic Invertebrate Collection of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Eddie Kisfaludy for collecting the specimens of C. coronatus and S. purpuratus; and Evelyn York of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Analytical Facility for help with our scanning electron microscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0202, USA

    Nicholas D. Holland

  2. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

    Michael T. Ghiselin

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  1. Nicholas D. Holland
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  2. Michael T. Ghiselin
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Correspondence to Nicholas D. Holland.

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Holland, N.D., Ghiselin, M.T. Siphons and siphonal grooves in the digestive systems of the Echinoidea (Echinodermata). Zoomorphology 127, 259–264 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-008-0071-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-008-0071-7

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