Phanogenia distincta ( Carpenter, 1888 )

Obuchi, Masami, 2020, Shallow-water Comatulids (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida) of the Ashizuri-Uwakai Sea, Shikoku Island, Southern Japan, Species Diversity 25, pp. 309-328 : 311-312

2. Phanogenia distincta ( Carpenter, 1888) [Japanese name: Koashi-hitofushi-umishida]

Morphology. Centrodorsal low hemispherical, 4.6– 4.8 mm across; polar area flat, 0.4–0.7 times of centrodorsal diameter. Cirri XXIV–XXXII, up to 12 segments, 12 mm long, arranged in two rows; c3–5 longest, L/ W 1.8; distal segments with aboral spine gradually developing. Radials almost invisible. IBr series composed of 2 ossicles, IIBr of 4(3+4), and IIIBr of 2(1+2). Arms thin, presumably 40, up to 125 mm long; brachials shorter than broad, with distal ends everted and spinose; first arm syzygy at br 1+2; distal intersyzygial intervals 3. Comparative pinnule length PD >> P 1 >>P 2>P 3 =P 4 =P 5; PD and P 1 enlarged; segments remarkably spinose, with distal ends flared . Terminal combs present to arm tips at intervals, consisting of 8–13 segments; teeth single, large, curved inward, confluent with lateral margins of pinnule segments; proximal segment with transverse spoon-like tooth; terminal segments with discrete teeth. Disk lost.

Posture. Hiding under overhangs or between foliose corals, with arms in multidirectional posture to multilayered arrays. Found at depths deeper than 20 m.

Coloration in life. Arms bright orange; pinnules bright orange or white, often with blue tips; centrodorsal and cirri white. Examined specimens with pink swellings of gonads on base of middle pinnules.

Distribution. Sagami Sea, Japan ( Gislén 1927) to West Australia ( Rowe and Gates 1995). New Caledonia (A. H. Clark 1931) to Madagascar (A. M. Clark 1972). Guam ( Kirkendale and Messing 2003).

Remarks. Genus Phanogenia Lovén, 1866 is unique in having narrow arms with the first syzygy at br 1+2, the spinose pinnules, and terminal combs appearing to the arm tips. The examined specimens were identified on the basis of the number of arms and L/W of cirrus segments with less than two. According to the key to Comatulidae in Kogo (1998), the specimens were identifiable as Phanogenia brevicirra (Bell, 1894) , which was considered as a junior synonym of P. distincta (A. M. Clark 1972) .