Ypsilothuriinae

Heding, 1942

3 genera; 11 species

tentacles 8-10, of which two can be noticeably larger. The calcareous ring is simple, without forked tail. In the body wall there are plates with handles or table-like plates, in part connected with transformations of calcareous deposits. The plates can be one layered or several layered. (Panning, 1949)

The remainder of the genera included in this group by Panning (1949) do not have the remarkable combination of characters found in Ypsilothuria, Echinocucumis, and Ypsilocucumis, and I feel that they should be separated from the Ypsilothuriidae and replaced in the Dendrochirotida; they may constitute a family in themselves. As the status of some of these genera is in doubt (vide Clark and Deichmann, 1936; Heding, 1942), I am unwilling at the present to propose a new taxon to accommodate these genera, and prefer to consider them as incertae sedis. A comparative study of these rather unusual holothurians is urgently required. (Pawson, 1965)