Name

h0845c	h0845b	h0845d
	h0845a

Size to about 100 mm total length

 

We noticed an unusual object in the body cavity of this tiny holothuroid collected from the calcareous green algae Halameda. Over a period of about a day the object moved from the mid section of the body to the posterior end, forming a bulge there. Eventually the object burst through the the body wall, and we could see that birth had occured. This brooding behaviour has been described by Clark (1898), and larger specimens have been reported with up to 176 embryos developing within the coelome at one time (Clark, 1907).