title: Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae) in Straits of Malacca with description of a new species.
abstract: Five sea cucumber species including one new species of the genus Stichopus are reported from the shallow coral reefs of Straits of Malacca. The new species Stichopus fusiformiossa has unusual fusiform spicules in the tentacles, which are not found in the other species of the genus. Pseudo-tables and large perforated plates are newly recorded for Stichopus hermanni Semper, 1868 and Stichopus vastus Sluiter, 1887, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 8, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Sau Pinn
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zulfigar
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yasin
authors.affiliation: Marine Science Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Shau Hwai
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 8, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kajihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Amakubo 4-1-1, Tsukuba 305-0005, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujita
keywords: Echinodermata; Malaysia; Stichopus; sea cucumbers; shallow reef; spicules; taxonomy