Aquilonastra marshae, 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 : 277-278

Aquilonastra marshae sp. nov.

Figures 1, 3c, 6d–e, 9d

Asterina cephea .— Perrier, 1875: 315–317 (part, Red Sea; non Asteriscus cepheus Müller and Troschel, 1842 ).

Asterina burtonii .— Mortensen, 1926: 121 (part).—A.M. Clark, 1952: 207 (part; non-fissiparous).— Tortonese, 1960: 20–21 (part; non Asterina burtonii Gray, 1840 ).

Asterina burtoni .— Achituv, 1969: 329–341 (part, “pentaradiate” form).— James and Pearse, 1969: 84–85 (part).—A.M. Clark and Rowe, 1971: 68, tbl. 1 (part, Red Sea non-fissiparous).— Achituv, 1973b: 547-553.— Tortonese, 1977: 281–282 (part).— Price, 1982: 7 (part, Red Sea non–fissiparous).— Mladenov and Achituv, 1999: 152 (part).— Karako et al., 2002: 139–144 (part, Elat Gulf of Aqaba nonfissiparous population; non Asterina burtonii Gray, 1840 ).

Asterina cepheus . — Moosleitner, 1997: 12–13, fig. 3a (only) (non Asteriscus cepheus Müller and Troschel, 1842 ).

Material examined. Holotype. Red Sea, Jousseaume , 1892, MNHN EcAs11907 (dry).

Paratypes. Type locality and date, EcAs10316 (7, dry).

Other material. Red Sea, M. Botta, 1837, EcAs2713 (1; labelled as “ type ” of Asteriscus wega Val. ; discussed under A. burtonii above); NMV F112169 (12); S Sinai, El Fauz, Nov 2003, F109382 (5); Ras el Misalla, 22 Sep 1970, HUJ SLR3030 (3); Ras Matarma, 31 Jan 1969, SLR2199 (1); 22 Sep 1981, TAU NS24413 (1); Egypt, under rocks, shallows, 15 Jul 2005, F107430 (1); Feb 2003, F109362 (1); 15 Jul 1966, TM H1814 (1); Gulf of Suez, Mission Dollfus, 1928, EcAs11839 (1); 27 Oct 1971, NS8560 (1); et Tur, 11 Sep 1968, HUJ IEC.57/141– 198 (11); Gulf of Aqaba, 8 Oct 1968, TAU NS4130 (5); Jez Tiran, 25 Sep 1981, WAM Z6877 (1).

Diagnosis. Non-fissiparous Aquilonastra species; rays 5, sometimes 6, short, broad basally, tapered, narrowly rounded distally; up to R = 16 mm, r = 7 mm; predominantly 1 conspicuous madreporite, sometimes 2; gonopores abactinal; some paired thick spinelets probably act as pedicellariae, not differentiated as valves.

At R = 16 mm, 0–3 doubly-papulate carinal plates; plates angled over papulae, proximally crescentiform, 1 papula per space, frequently 1 secondary plate per papular space; disc bordered or not by 5 radial 5 interradial plates; spinelets thick, short, conical to subdigitiform, rugose, distally with multiple long fine points and frequently splay-pointed; up to about 14 spinelets across raised proximal edge of abactinal plates and angled over papula, frequently 1–2 on central bare distal surface of plate; up to about 8 spinelets per plate in mid-distal interradius; up to about 7 conical pointed spinelets per superomarginal plate, up to about 16 digitiform spinelets per inferomarginal plate, thick distally on plates.

Spines per actinal plate up to: oral 7, suboral 3, furrow 6, subambulacral 5, actinal interradial 5, predominantly 3; actinal interradial spines thick, sacciform, conical to digitiform.

Colour (live). Variably mottled with combinations of dark and pale mauve, dark brown to black, pale brown, red, green, white; sometimes predominantly pink-mauve or white (photos from H. Moosleitner and J. Hinterkircher; Moosleitner (1997)).

Distribution. Red Sea, Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba.

Etymology. Named for Loisette Marsh, Western Australian Museum, with appreciation of her generous assistance with loan material and her significant research into echinoderm systematics in the Indo-Pacific region.

Remarks. Two fissiparous species occur in the Red Sea, and are recognized in this work as Aquilonastra burtonii (above) and Aquilonastra yairi sp. nov. (below). Aquilonastra marshae has frequently been reported in the literature as a larger nonfissiparous pentaradiate growth stage of Asterina burtonii (see synonymy). Achituv (1973b) reported on the genital cycle of Asterina burtoni from the Gulf of Elat. Fissiparous and nonfissiparous forms were not distinguished. Maximum R was 14 mm. We judge that the material was probably principally A. marshae . Aquilonastra samyni sp. nov. (below) occurs on the coast of the Arabian Sea and is morphologically similar to A. marshae . The diagnostic characters that distinguish A. marshae from A. samyni are discussed in the Remarks for A. samyni below.