Use of triterpene glycosides for resolving taxonomic problems in the sea cucumber genus Cucumaria (Holothurioidea, Echinodermata)

This article presents a review of the data on the structures of glycosides from five species of sea cucumbers belonging to the genus Cucumaria (Holothurioidea, Echinodermata). A set of aglycones is specific for glycosides from each species but carbohydrate chains are similar for all five species. These sea cucumbers contain glycosides with three-sulphated branched pentasaccharide carbohydrate chains which are characteristic for the genus Cucumaria. The glycosides from all the Cucumaria species studied are different from the glycosides of Aslia lefevrei and Pseudoocnus echinata that confirms the earlier exclusion of these species from the genus Cucumaria. They are also significantly different from the glycosides of Staurocucumis liouvillei and Hemoiedema spectabilis, the other representatives of the family Cucumariidae.