calcar var. quinqueangula Lamarck, 1816, Asterias

(Fig. 15C)

Asterias calcar var. quinqueangula Lamarck, 1816: 557 .

Patiriella regularis – Clark 1993: 226.

CURRENT STATUS. — Asterias calcar var. quinqueangula is newly synonymized here with Parvulastra exigua (Lamarck, 1816) .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Australia • MNHN-IE-2014-30: Asterias calcar var. quinqueangula; 4 syntypes; Australia (King George Sound, Albany); Baudin expedition (1800-1804); Péron and Lesueur leg .

REMARK

Since the publication of Perrier (1875: 299), Lamarck quinqueangula variety was considered a synonym of the common New Zealand asterinid, Patiriella regularis (Verrill, 1867) . Yet this should be reconsidered. Indeed, although the presence of P. regularis in Australian waters, mostly Tasmanian, is proven, this presence is however recent. In fact P. regularis, a species endemic to New Zealand, is said to have invaded Australian waters in the 20th century after 1930 (Dartnall 1969). This makes it rather unlikely that it was collected by Péron and Lesueur in South Australia or Tasmania in the early 19th century. The status of quinqueangula variety is discussed further under the species Asterias exigua .