Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Revision of the Recent Indo-West Pacific Comatulid Genus Comaster Agassiz. Part 1. The Type Species of Comaster and Phanogenia Loven (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comasteridae)

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Invertebrate Taxonomy

ISSN

0818-0164

Publication Date

1998

Keywords

Coral reefs

Abstract

The Indo–Pacific reef-dwelling comatulid crinoid Comaster multifidus (Müller, 1841) is the type species of the genus Comaster Agassiz, 1836. Re-examination of the type specimen of C. multifidus shows that it does not conform to the concept of the species as currently applied and does not belong in the genus as currently diagnosed. Instead, it falls within Comanthina A. H. Clark, 1909, and is identical to Comanthina variabilis Bell, 1882. Comanthina thus becomes a junior synonym of Comaster because Actinometra nobilis Carpenter, 1884, the type species of Comanthina, is clearly congeneric with A. variabilis. Species currently assigned to Comanthina are herein transferred to Comaster. The other species currently included in Comaster represent a distinct taxonomic group and are herein transferred to the next most senior available genus, Phanogenia Lovén, 1866. The holotypes of the type species of Comaster and Phanogenia are redescribed in detail.

DOI

10.1071/IT97004

Volume

12

Issue

2

First Page

191

Last Page

209

Comments

©CSIRO 1998

Additional Comments

Publication Name has been changed to Invertebrate Systematics ISSN: 1445-5226

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