Sinoferdina

Mah, Christopher L., 2017, Overview of the Ferdina - like Goniasteridae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) including a new subfamily, three new genera and fourteen new species, Zootaxa 4271 (1), pp. 1-72 : 49-50

Synonymy of Sinoferdina and further questions

Based on Liao’s (1982) character diagnosis I am unable to recognize any distinction between Sinoferdina and Neoferdina . Liao (1982) used Neoferdina cumingi as a basis for comparison and failed to capture the range of variation observed in other species, such as Neoferdina insolita . Characters from the diagnosis such as the marginal plates in regular series, the small abactinal plates and “minute granulations obscuring the outlines of all plates” are consistent with those in Neoferdina . The unusual thick, triangular-shaped arms noted in Sinoferdina gigantea are also seen in larger individuals of Neoferdina , including an image figured in Okutani 1994, a Philippine specimen of N. japonica (CASIZ 2087279) and large individuals of N. momo n. sp.

Based on shared characters observed in Neoferdina japonica Oguro and Misaki 1986 and Sinoferdina (= Neoferdina ) gigantea it seems very likely that the two species are synonyms. Saba and Fujita (2006: 278) described a specimen of N. offreti , which I argue to be Neoferdina japonica (see below) which very closely matches the description of S. gigantea , including the absence of a bare region on the first interradial superomarginal plates. Okutani (1994: 251) included a photo of this species which seems consistent with the descriptions of both Liao (1982) and Oguro and Misaki (1986). Occurrence for both species is consistent, with N. gigantea in the East China Sea and N. japonica on the south-east coast of Japan (Kushimoto). Size would also be consistent given the unusually large size of N. gigantea ’s holotype (R=6.0 cm) versus the comparable size of N. japonica ’s holotype (R=4.0– 4.2 cm). Should Neoferdina gigantea and Neoferdina japonica be determined to be the same species, the latter N. japonica would become a junior synonym to the senior N. gigantea .

Specimens of S. gigantea could not be obtained or imaged and a request to the Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was not answered. While Liao’s (1982) description outlines relevant characters, the images are unclear and there remains uncertainty regarding this species.

Occurrence. East China Sea, 131–162 m.

Material examined. None.