Culcita novaeguineae Müller and Troschel 1842

Mah, Christopher L., 2023, A new species of Astrosarkus from Western Australia including new Mesophotic occurrences of Indian Ocean Oreasteridae (Valvatida, Asteroidea), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 82, pp. 143-165 : 152

Culcita novaeguineae Müller and Troschel 1842

Figure 6a

Culcita novaeguineae Müller and Troschel 1842: 38 ; Sluiter 1895:

57; Döderlein 1896: 310; H.L. Clark 1908: 201; Goto 1914: 507; Fisher

1919: 360; H.L. Clark 1921: 32; Djakonov 1930: 247; Livingstone

1932: 265; Engel 1938: 10 (var. Leopold); Domantay and Roxas 1938: 215; A.M. Clark & Rowe 1971: 34, 54; Liao 1980: 154; Jangoux and deRidder 1987: 90. Marsh and Fromont 2020: 400. Goniodiscus sebae Müller and Troschel 1842: 58 . Hosea spinulosa Gray 1847: 78 . Culcita pentangularis Gray 1847: 74 . Culcita pulverulenta Perrier 1869 Hippasteria philippiensis Domantay and Roxas 1938: 209 .

Diagnosis. Body shape pentagonal disk, strongly arched, arms confluent. Abactinal and marginal plates concealed by thick granule-covered dermis. Papular regions large and variably confluent, with distinct papulae-free region laterally adjacent to contact with marginal plates. Spinelets or tubercles present on papular areas. Expression of spines and tubercles varied. Actinal region covered by dermis invested with coarse granules, tubercles and/or short, conical spines. Modified from Marsh amd Fromont (2020).

The mesophotic specimen observed was red with white mottled papular regions and dark colored tubercles ( Fig. 6a ).

Comments. Culcita novaeguineae is widespread. This species shows a wide range of variation consistent with its widespread distribution. Preliminary data suggests a cryptic complex within this species (G. Paulay, pers. comm).

Culcita novaeguineae is known primarily as a shallow-water reef species, with most occurrences under 30.0 m (e.g. Glynn and Krupp, 1986; Rowe and Gates, 1995; Marsh and Fromont, 2020). Video observations by the ROV SuBastian has shown this species at 99 m depth from off Queensland, occurring on a coarse, sandy bottom with rhodoliths and algal cover. No clear character differences in colour, spination, shape or size were observed on the individual imaged. No specimen was collected.

Occurrence. Widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Hawaiian Islands, southern Japan, southern China and Taiwan, southeastern Polynesia, Pitcairn Island to Philippines, Indonesia, north coast of Australia from Western Australia to Queensland, Papua New Guinea, east to east Africa, the Andaman Islands and southeast Asia.

New mesophotic occurrence. Off Queensland Australia 99.0 m depth.

Video observation. Bowl Slide Australia, 125 km offshore from Townsville , Queensland, Australia, - 18.38805116° S, 147.66887222° E, 99 m. ROV SuBastian, dive 394, FK200930 .

Figures

Figure 6. Culcita spp. a, Culcita novaeguineae in situ from Bowl Slide, Australia, 99 m. Courtesy of R/V Falkor, Schmidt Ocean Institute; b, Culcita schmideliana, USNM E37276, Abactinal view. Scale bar=2.0 cm; c, Actinal view. Scale bar=2.0 cm.