non Holothuria dakarensis Panning, 1939 — Rowe 1969: 153, 154 [misidentified];

Holothuria (Holothuria) dakarensis Panning, 1939 — Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 1992b: 154–155, 1999: 57, 2002: 287–288 [based on Rowe 1969].

Type locality: Dakar (Senegal).

See: Cherbonnier (1950); Borrero-Pérez et al. (2009); Pawson et al. (2010: 37–38, fig. 30); Prata et al. (2014).

Occurrence: Atlantic, in the west from off Georgia south to the Gulf of Mexico (Pawson et al. 2010) and Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil; Prata et al. 2014) and in the east from Dakar (Senegal) and Cape Verde to Angola (Cherbonnier 1950, 1965, Borrero-Pérez et al. 2009).

Depth: 1–54 m (Borrero-Pérez et al. 2009, Prata et al. 2014).

Habitat: under rocks on sand or mud (Borrero-Pérez et al. (2009).

Larval stage: probably planktotrophic (inferred from the genus; see McEdward & Miner 2001).

Remarks: in a review of the family Holothuriidae, Rowe (1969) listed the Azores under the geographical distribution of Holothuria dakarensis, a statement repeated by subsequent works. Pawson & Shirley (1977) believed that Rowe based his statement on material from Faial Island, deposited in the collection of the British Natural History Museum. On re-examination, the authors concluded the specimens belonged either to H. mammata or H. tubulosa rather than H. dakarensis. Furthermore, Borrero-Pérez et al. (2009) showed that H. dakarensis was historically confused with H. mammata, restricting the geographical range of H. dakarensis in the East Atlantic to southern latitudes of the African coasts, from Senegal and Cape Verde to Angola.