Nymphaster Sladen 1889

Mah, Christopher L., 2018, New genera, species and occurrence records of Goniasteridae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata) from the Indian Ocean, Zootaxa 4539 (1), pp. 1-116 : 68

Nymphaster Sladen 1889

Sladen in Thomson & Murray 1885: 612 (as Nymphaster , but a nomen nudum, diagnosed but no species named) Sladen 1889: 612; Fisher 1913: 633; H.L. Clark 1916: 36; Fisher 1917: 167; 1919: 261; Halpern 1970: 222; Clark & Downey 1992: 253

Diagnosis. A genus with strongly stellate body form, triangular arms with rapidly tapering, pointed tips. Abactinal surface showing weakly tabulate plates with granules covering surface. Superomarginals abutted over mid-radius along entire arm length, forming prominent frame around disk.

Comment. Nymphaster includes 16 Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean species (Mah 2018). Fisher (1919) outlined eight species in his key to Nymphaster in the central Pacific in contrast to the single, highly variable species, Nymphaster arenatus in the tropical Atlantic. Macan (1938) and Alcock (1893) summarized Indian Ocean species. There has been much more scrutiny paid to the variation of Nymphaster arenatus (see Clark and Downey 1992) relative to the Indo-Pacific and further work could result in fewer nominal Indo-Pacific species. Macan (1938) indicated that several of the Indian Ocean species fall under the variation of Nymphaster moebi . Samuel et al. (2017) indicated that Nymphaster arenatus , primarily an Atlantic species, was also present in the Indian Ocean. Although this occurrence record could not be verified, it hints at the potential overlap among species of this complicated genus.