Anthenoides cristatus
Creators: name: Mah, Christopher L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Echinodermata
Asteroidea
Valvatida
Goniasteridae
Anthenoides
Anthenoides cristatus

description: Anthenoides cristatus (Sladen, 1889)
Sladen 1889: 327, pl. 54: 1–7 (as Leptogonaster cristatus)
Alcock 1893: Macan, 1938: 405; James 1983: 89 (checklist); Clark 1993: 242 (checklist); Sastry 2005: 27 (checklist) (As Anthenoides sarissa Alcock, 1893)
Fisher 1919: 329, pl. 78, figs. 1–2, pl. 88, fig.1; pl. 89, fig. 1; Macan 1938: 403, pl. 3, fig. 5; pl. 5, Fig. 1; McKnight 197 3: 192; Jangoux 1981: 459; Liao & A.M. Clark 1989: 41; A.M. Clark 1993: 241; H.E.S. Clark & McKnight 2001: 14 (as Anthenoides cristatus)
Diagnosis. A species identified by the presence of inferomarginals bearing small lateral spines (Fig. 1C). Bivalve abactinal pedicellariae present or absent. Button-like granules absent from marginal plates. One to three subambulacral spines, adambulacral pedicellariae. Images and a full description of this species are found in Fisher (1919) and Clark and McKnight (2001).
Comments. Based on examination of material herein, Anthenoides sarissa Alcock, 1893 is referred to synonymy of Anthenoides cristatus (Sladen, 1889), a conclusion Aziz (1986, unpublished) also reached independently. Close affinities between the two species was first noted by Fisher (1919: 333) who observed that Anthenoides sarissa Alcock from the Andaman Sea closely resembles “immature” specimens of A. cristatus. He differentiated them on the basis of the number and size of subambulacral spines, which he described as single and more “prominent” in A. sarissa than in small A. cristatus. Fisher’s key (1919: 328–329) further differentiated the two putative species based on presence and absence of prominent abactinal pedicellariae in A. cristatus and A. sarissa, respectively. Macan (1938: 405) examined a greater number of specimens (n=495) from the Gulf of Aden within a broad size range (R=2.7–6.0 cm) and discovered that both of Fisher’s characters, subambulacral spines, and abactinal pedicellariae are too varied to be used as reliable characters. Observation of additional material of A. cristatus supports Macan’s observations. Examination of the Anthenoides cristatus specimens from Reunion Island by Jangoux and Aziz (1988) reveal that they were misidentified and are instead identified as Anthenoides marleyi.
Macan (1938: 406) stopped short of synonymizing A. sarissa based on the presence of secondary plates, which he defined as “small plates inlaid everywhere between the larger ones.” However, he considered these to be “too great a difference to be ignored.” Comparison of this material with Alcock’s illustrations (1894: pl. 2, figs. 4, 4a) and description (1893: 99) show Macan’s concerns regarding secondary plates to be unfounded. Comparably sized specimens of A. cristatus are identical to Alcock’s description and figures.
Occurrence. Philippine Islands, New Zealand. Gulf of Aden (Indian Ocean). 143–1350 m.
Material Examined: None.
description: Published as part of Mah, Christopher L., 2018, New genera, species and occurrence records of Goniasteridae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata) from the Indian Ocean, pp. 1-116 in Zootaxa 4539 (1) on page 7, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4539.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/2615911