''Taeniogyrus dunedinensis'', commonly known as the burrowing sea cucumber, is a small

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

from New Zealand.

Description

''Taeniogyrus dunedinensis'' is named after Dunedin, the city in which it was first identified by Thomas Parker, and was first called ''Chirodota dunedinensis''. It has one subspecies, ''Taeniogyrus dunedinensis microurna'' (Mortensen, 1925). Parker originally described the creature as being about in length, with ten tapering whitish tentacles, a smooth integument, and a yellowish colour caused by the internal organs being visible through its translucent skin. He also described small red spots on the body which disappear when placed in spirit, and dark spots on the inner side of the tentacles, which are not affected by spirit.

Distribution

''T. dunedinensis'' is found in the littoral zone, around the coast of New Zealand, including the Auckland and Chatham Islands.

References

Marine fauna of New Zealand Animals described in 1881 Chiridotidae {{Holothuroidea-stub