Pannychia

Pannychia is a genus of sea cucumber of the family Laetmogonidae. They are part of the benthos. They prefer habitats with soft sediment, and inhabiting depths of . Within these habitats in the North Pacific Ocean, they are known to dominate the ecosystem.

==Description== The genus is diagnosed by the possession of a subventral mouth without any papillae surrounding it, though there are numerous, slender papillae elsewhere across the body.16-20 non-retractile tentacles are also present, and possess digitiform discs. Pannychias ossicles are prominent. These are predominantly wheel-shaped, though ossicles described as "arched rods" occur in P. henrici and P. virgulifera. There are also larger and smaller forms of the wheel ossicles. The tube feet are variable in size. Pannychia can be distinguished from all other Elasipodida through two synapomorphies: the presence of "dorsal papillae on ventro-lateral ambulacra and large wheel ossicles with brim teeth", and from other Laetmogonids through the presence of tube feet on the mid-ventral radius. They differ from Laetmogone by their shorter papillae.