Anthenea Gray 1840

Comments

Liao & Clark (1995) outline four species of Anthenea found in the southern China region, including A. difficilis, A. aspera, A. chinensis and A. viguieri . Their account of Anthenea in China states that two of the species from the area, A. aspera and A. viguieri, are possibly not conspecific with the Australian species of the same name but could instead be synonyms of the highly variable Anthenea chinensis which occurs throughout the region. Our treatment agrees with their conclusions, ultimately finding only one highly variable species of Anthenea, A. chinensis . It is likely that many other species in adjacent east Asian waters could be part of this complex as well. Phylogenetic assessment of these species to determine which lineages are present in Asia versus Australia are desirable.

Although described as a member of Anthenea, Anthenea difficilis showed two series of adambulacral spines versus three spines, which characterizes the other Anthenea species and was subsequently moved to Gymnanthenea by Fujita & Marsh (2002).

Much more extensive work will be needed to test the relationships among the Anthenea species complex across its range. Specific to China, this includes those changes proposed by Liao & Clark (1995) as well as by the taxonomic changes stated by Fujita & Marsh (2002).