Ferdina flavescens Gray 1840

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 : 19

Ferdina flavescens Gray 1840

Figure 4 A,C,E

Gray 1840: 282; deLoriol 1885: 47; Livingstone 1931: 305; A.M. Clark 1967: 192; Clark & Rowe 1971: 34, 65 (in key); Marsh & Campbell 1991: 218; Bollard et al. 2013: 495, 496; Conand et al. 2016:

Occurrence. Mascarene Islands ( Reunion, Mauritius), Europa Island, Mozambique, 0– 30 m .

Taxonomic notes. Although first described by Gray (1840), few data are available for this species. All known occurrence data for F. flavescens is reported from shallow-water settings in the west Indian Ocean region. More recently, this species has been reported from the African mainland ( Mozambique) and nearby Europa Island ( Conand et al. 2016). Although relatively little morphological variation has been reported, living color for this species is reported to be primarily yellow to brown/gold for the large plates on the abactinal surface and dark brown-red for the surface around the convex plates.In some individuals the colors on the disk and the body surface are nearly identical.

Material examined. MNHN-IE-2013-6603; No data; Coll. Michelin 1868; 1 dry spec. R=3.6, r=0.8.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Ferdina flavescens. MNHN-IE- 2013 - 6603. Scale Bar = 2.0 mm. A. Abactinal surface. C. Oral surface. E. Close up actinal surface, furrow spines and other adambulacral features. F. sadhensis. Paratype USNM E 41400. Scale Bar = 3.0 mm. B. Abactinal surface. D. Oral surface. F. O ral surface detail.