Aquilonastra conandae, O, 2006

O, P. Mark, 2006, A systematic revision of the asterinid genus Aquilonastra O Loughlin, 2004 (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 63 (2), pp. 257-287 : 271-273

Aquilonastra conandae sp. nov.

Figures 1, 2k, 4a, 5f, 8a–b

Asterina burtoni .— Kojadinovic et al., 2004: 225–229 (part, fissiparous specimens; non Asterina burtonii Gray, 1840 ).

ʻAsterinaʼ sp. 2.— Rowe and Richmond, 2004: 3287–3288 (part, not Rivière Banane or Zanzibar specimens), fig. 5 (colour).

Material examined. Holotype (in alcohol). Indian Ocean, Mascarene Is., La Réunion I., Trou dʼEau, rocky shallows, C. Conand, 17 Sep 2004, MNHN EcAh11904.

Paratypes. Type locality and date, AM J24288 (23, in alcohol); EcAh11905 (26, in alcohol); NMV F107411 (1, dry, dissected); F107412 (29, in alcohol); F107413 (4, dry, dissected) .

Other material. La Réunion I., type locality, Sep 2003, F107414 (5); 12 Jun 2002, NMV F109368 (2) ; 22 Mar 2003, F109366 (1); 16 Feb 2006, F109379 (1); Rodrigues I., Île aux Fous, coralline substrate, Shoals of Capricorn Programme , 21 Sep 2001, NHM 2004.2815 – 2824 (10) ; Antonioʼs Finger , 9 m, 21 Sep 2001, J24289 (1); Antonioʼs Finger Reef, off Grande Baie, NHM 2004.2826 – 2829 (4) ; Passe Coco , under rubble, 6 m, NHM 2004.2830 (1) ; Trou Malabar , coral rubble, 10 m, NHM 2004.2825 (1) ; Agalega Is. , 25 Feb 1979, WAM Z6871 (1) ; Mauritius ( Île Maurice), MAU–74, 27 lots, Peyrot-Clausade, 1974, EcAs11877–11903 (381);EcAs2578 (6); (Île Bourbon),Maillard,1862, EcAs1563 (1).

Diagnosis. Fissiparous Aquilonastra species; rays 5–7, predominantly 6, largest specimens with 5; rays discrete, variably narrow to wide basally, tapering, rounded distally, sometimes digitiform; up to R = 10 mm, r = 5 mm (holotype, in alcohol); contiguous spinelets over papulae possibly act as pedicellariae, spinelets not differentiated as valves; abactinal gonopores.

At R = 8 mm, plates with proximal notch or indentation for papula, rarely doubly notched; secondary plates present; single large papula per papular space; 2 longitudinal series of single papulae along each side of rays; abactinal spinelets glassy, rugose, on upper rays short thick columnar to conical, subgranuliform, up to rarely 12 per plate, readily lost, on sides of rays short conical, in distal interradius thin, some splay-pointed; marginal plates in regular series, subequal; superomarginal spinelets up to about 5 per plate, short conical; inferomarginal spinelets up to about 10 per plate, distal larger, some splay-pointed.

Spines per actinal plate up to: oral 6 (rare), suboral 3 (rare), furrow 4, subambulacral 2, actinal interradial 3 (predominantly 1); interradial spines short, thick, conical to subsacciform, pointed distally.

Colour (live). Variably mottled with red, cream, brown and green (photos from C. Conand).

Etymology. Named for Chantal Conand, Professor Emeritus, University of La Réunion, in appreciation of her considerable contribution to echinoderm research and this paper.

Distribution. Indian Ocean, Mascarene Is., Agalega Is., Mauritius, Rodrigues Is., La Réunion I., rocky and coralline substrate, 0– 10 m.

Remarks. Kojadinovic et al. (2004) determined La Réunion material to be Asterina burtoni , and discussed both small asymmetrical fissiparous forms with more than one inconspicuous madreporite and slightly larger symmetrical pentaradiate sexual forms with a single madreporite. Maximum size was R = 9 mm, consistent with A. conandae material observed in this study. But none of the many specimens from La Réunion seen here had only a single madreporite. Some of the largest specimens were symmetrical and pentaradiate, but all had more than one inconspicuous madreporite. Only a few pentaradiate symmetrical specimens from La Réunion with a single conspicious madreporite have been seen in this study. Two are referred to Aquilonastra samyni sp. nov. (below), and a few to an undescribed species of Tegulaster . A specimen from Zanzibar ( NHM 2004.2831), referred by Rowe and Richmond (2004: 3288) to ʻ Asterinaʼ sp. 2, is determined here as Aquilonastra burtonii (above).

The distinguishing diagnostic characters for A. conandae amongst western Indo-Pacific fissiparous species of Aquilonastra are: predominantly single actinal interradial spine per plate; high proportion of specimens with fewer rays (80% with 5–6 rays); size difference. With R up to 10 mm, A. conandae is larger than A. moosleitneri sp. nov. below (R up to 9 mm) and A. yairi sp. nov. below (R up to 7 mm), and smaller than A. burtonii (R up to 18 mm) and A. corallicola below (R up to 16 mm).