PENTAGONASTERINAE Perrier

Mah, Christopher L., Kogure, Yoichi, Fujita, Toshihiko & Higashiji, Takuo, 2024, New Taxa and Occurrences of Mesophotic and Deep-sea Goniasteridae (Valvatida, Asteroidea) from Okinawa and adjacent regions, Zootaxa 5403 (1), pp. 1-41 : 32-33

PENTAGONASTERINAE Perrier (emended by Mah 2007)

Diagnosis

Overall body shape pentagonal or weakly stellate, R/r low, arm tips rounded. Test robust, heavily calcified.Abactinal plates smooth or with discrete smooth surface, flattened to very convex, hexagonal to polygonal outline clearly delineated. Primary circlet plates well defined, interradial plates enlarged in most taxa. Bare (i.e. ornamentation is absent),abactinal plates smooth (i.e.flat,frictionless surface)abactinal plates in most,some genera with partial granular covering in some genera(e.g. Toraster , Ryukuaster ).Fasciolar grooves between abactinal marginal plates shallow to well developed.Double to multiple papular pores in most taxa.Madreporite triangular.Superomarginal and inferomarginal plates swollen, blocky, length greater than width in most specimens. Marginal plates commonly smooth to bare, but few to scattered granules in Toraster , Ryukuaster . Penultimate superomarginals swollen or elongate in Pentagonaster and Tosia . Actinal plates relatively large, polygonal, smooth, bare, but variably with granular covering in Toraster or Ryukuaster . Furrow and subambulacral spines few in number, two to three, blunt and thickened. Pedicellariae bivalved or tong-like.Adambulacral plates with horizontally oriented,symmetrical ‘divider’ in most.(From Mah 2007)

Comments

The Pentagonasterinae was revised and reviewed based on a phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters ( Mah 2007) and restricted to eight genera, Pentagonaster , Tosia , Eknomiaster , Akelbaster , Toraster , Anchitosia , Ryukuaster , Eknomiaster , and Pawsonaster . Okinawan specimens from 0– 70 m.