Description of two species of the genus Astrodia Verrill, 1899 (Ophiuroidea, Euryalida, Asteronychidae), including a new species from seamounts in the West Pacific

By

Xie, Xiaojun
Lu, Bo
Pang, Jie
Zhang, Dongsheng

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1123

Pages

99--122

Subjects

deep sea , molecular phylogeny , Morphology , ophiuroids , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1123.87397

 

Abstract

Five specimens of Ophiuroidea from deep-sea seamounts in the West Pacific were collected and identified as two species, Astrodia duospinasp. nov. and Astrodia abyssicola. The new species, Astrodia duospinasp. nov., can be distinguished from its congeners by having indistinct or underdeveloped oral papillae, relatively short genital slits, crescent-shaped lateral arm plates, and plate-shaped external ossicles on the aboral surface of the disc. One specimen was identified as Astrodia abyssicola, which has been reported in the north-western Pacific and the north-eastern coast of Japan. The most recent tabular key of Astrodia was revised with two more key characteristics added, the shape and presence of oral papillae and the number of arm spines. The phylogenetic relationship of Astrodia and Asteronyx was analyzed based on 16S and COI sequences. The discovery of the two species further expanded the geographical distribution of the genus Astrodia.