GONIASTERIDAE Forbes, 1841

Mah, Christopher L., 2006, Phylogeny and biogeography of the deep-sea goniasterid Circeaster (Echinodermata, Asteroidea, Goniasteridae) including descriptions of six new species, Zoosystema 28 (4), pp. 917-954 : 923

Family GONIASTERIDAE Forbes, 1841

NOTES

Lydiaster johannae , C. marcelli and C. magdalenae were known only from Koehler’s (1909) holotypes. The institutional depository of these holotypes was not indicated. Halpern (1970a: 173; 1970b: 265) indicated that he had compared all Circeaster species but citations for Koehler’s original type specimens were absent from the listing of material studied ( Halpern 1970a: 173; 1970b: 265). Koehler’s holotypes could not be located in the type collection at the MNHN. Unsuccessful inquiries were made to the collections at the Musée océanographique de Monaco (Michèle Bruni pers. comm. 2002) and to the Indian Museum in Calcutta. Further research was not attempted but could result in discovery of Koehler’s Investigator asteroid types. As a consequence, neotypes have not been designated.

Descriptions of these species from Koehler (1909), written in French, were incomplete, and re-descriptions with photo images, rather than line drawn illustrations that were presented in the original description, are provided below. Full descriptions and figures for adult specimens of Cladaster analogus , Floriaster maya , and Circeaster americanus were published in Halpern (1970a, b) and Clark & Downey (1992) and are omitted here. Outgroup taxa are described and summarized, followed by the nine Circeaster species included in the phylogenetic tree ( Fig. 1 ). A key to species included herein is provided (Appendix 1).

Figures

FIG. 1. — PHYLOGRAM INCLUDING Circeaster spp., Floriaster, and Lydiaster. Nodes numbers are indicated into circles. % values signify bootstrap values, values in bold signify Bremer support values.