A taxonomic review of the genus Asterostegus (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea), with the description of a new species Author Okanishi, Masanori Author Fujita, Toshihiko D5B6C696-9E5B-4012-A9A9-4716DD2BA2C3 National Museum of Nature and Science, 4 - 1 - 1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 - 0005 Japan & urn: lsid: zoobank. org: author: D 5 B 6 C 696 - 9 E 5 B- 4012 - A 9 A 9 - 4716 DD 2 BA 2 C 3 text European Journal of Taxonomy 2014 2014-03-06 76 1 18 journal article 22017 10.5852/ejt.2014.76 6f3572d0-0a33-42fa-94d1-88028a541cdb 2118-9773 3835020 01BEFFB2-2E53-4B1E-A7BC-36702313BBF8 Genus Asterostegus Mortensen, 1933 Asterostegus Mortensen, 1933a: 4 , 40 ; 1933b: 297 . Asterostegus – Fell 1960: 10 . — McKnight 2003: 385-386 . Type species: Asterostegus tuberculatus Mortensen, 1933 , by monotypy. Diagnosis Arms simple, not branching. Tubercles present on radial shields and aboral arms. Oral interradial plates present on distal side of adoral shields. Teeth triangular. Oral papillae domed, granule-shaped, present laterally on the jaws. Tentacle pores with two (rarely three) arm spines from fourth arm segment. Oral side of vertebrae with an oral bridge. Lamina of distal arm spines smooth. Table 1. A tabular character key to the species of Asterostegus .
Tubercles on aboral surface of the disc Numbers and arrangement of oral interradial plates
Species Number and arrangement of tubercles on aboral disc Number of tubercles on top of each lateral bar Length of tubercles on periphery of radial shields
A. sabineae sp. nov. Two to four, in a line on the radial shield One or two ca . 1–1.2 mm One in each interradius
A. maini McKnight, 2003 Ca . 10, only on periphery of radial shield Three to five ca . 250–300 µm Three to five arranged in one row
A. tuberculatus Mortensen, 1933 Scattered over entire radial shield and peripheral part of aboral disc Two or three ca . 350 µm Five to eight arranged in two rows
Remarks Based on this study, Asterostegus is currently composed of three species, A. sabineae sp. nov. , A. maini McKnight, 2003 and A. tuberculatus Mortensen, 1933 . A tabular key to the species of Asterostegus is provided ( Table 1 ). Species of this genus are distributed in the Indian Ocean, off Madagascar ( Mortensen 1933b ) and in the Western Pacific, south-east of New Caledonia ( McKnight 2003 ), at a depth of 382-500 m ( Fig. 1 ).