Anthenoides Perrier 1881

Mah, Christopher L., 2018, New genera, species and occurrence records of Goniasteridae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata) from the Indian Ocean, Zootaxa 4539 (1), pp. 1-116 : 6

Anthenoides Perrier 1881

Perrier 1881: 23; 1884: 246; Macan 1938: 401; Bernasconi 1963: 20; Halpern 1970: 272; Sladen 1889: 326; Fisher 1911: 169, 173; Liao & Clark 1995: 90; H.E.S. Clark & McKnight 2001: 13.(as Leptogonaster )

Verrill 1899: 173; Fisher 1906: 1067; 1911: 169, 173. (as Antheniaster )

Downey 1973: 48; Liao & Clark 1989: 37; Clark & Downey 1992: 228; H.E.S. Clark & McKnight 2001: 13 (as Anthenoides )

Diagnosis. Goniasteridae with stellate body form, pointed, triangular arms, broad interradial arcs, abactinal plates abutted, papulae present over radial regions on disk and arms, absent interradially. Continuous granule-invested tegument covers abactinal, marginal, actinal surface. Marginal plates quadrate forming distinct abactinal-actinal facing border with granules or short spinelets. Pedicellariae present or absent. Furrow spines, fine slender, subambulacral spination variable but some species with both bivalve and forceps-like pedicellariae.

Comments. Anthenoides includes ten nominal species distributed across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Thorough morphological descriptions of Anthenoides are found in Fisher (1919), Mortensen (1925), Macan (1938), Halpern (1970), Clark and Downey (1992) and Clark & McKnight (2001). Examination of species within Anthenoides , compared with descriptions in Fisher (1919), Macan (1938) and other sources (e.g., Clark & McKnight 2001) show morphological overlap to form a wide-ranging species complex. Some species, such as A. cristatus are widely occurring and variation within this species has been treated as representing separate species, but here synonymized (see Anthenoides sarissa synonymized herein).

Three species of Anthenoides have been reported from the Indian Ocean but only two have been recorded from the western Indian Ocean. Anthenoides marleyi has been reported from South Africa ( Mortensen, 1925, Clark & Courtman-Stock 1976) and Anthenoides cristatus (as A. sarissa ) has been recorded by Alcock (1893) and Macan (1938) from the Andaman Islands and the Gulf of Aden, respectively, and by Jangoux and Aziz (1988) from Reunion Island.

The third species, Anthenoides dubius H.L. Clark 1938 from near Broome, Western Australia, is problematic and although it is part of the same species cluster/lineage described herein, is most likely not a proper species in Anthenoides . H.L. Clark (1938: 94), indicated that it was “improbable” but noted a “superficial” resemblance between Anthenoides dubius and the Atlantic Anthenoides peircei ; he assigned it to Anthenoides out of convenience. Clark apparently ruled out that this was a juvenile of Stellaster incei but A. dubius shares characters with many members of the “ Anthenoides ” group.

Anthenoides granulosus , previously recorded from the south and central Pacific has now been recorded from Madagascar. In spite, of their overlapping occurrence, Anthenoides marlyei shows significant character differences from both Anthenoides cristatus and Anthenoides granulosus , as illustrated below.