Mediaster ornatus Fisher 1906

Mah, Christopher L., 2018, New genera, species and occurrence records of Goniasteridae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata) from the Indian Ocean, Zootaxa 4539 (1), pp. 1-116 : 58-59

Mediaster ornatus Fisher 1906

Fisher 1906: 1046; Koehler 1909: 78; Fisher 1919: 256; Döderlein 1924: 52; Jangoux & Aziz 1988: 633, 642; Chave & Jones 1991: 794, 796; A.M. Clark 1993: 263 (checklist); Chave & Malahoff 1998: 86; Paulay 2003: 572.

Diagnosis. Body stellate (R/r=2.4–2.5), well developed tabulae, round in shape. Central surface with one to nine small blunt, cylindrical granules in ordered series, peripheral granules 15 to 30, round to cylindrical in shape, widely and evenly spaced. Superomarginals covered by widely distributed bullet-shaped, blunt granules. Actinal plate surface with four to 20, mostly 10–15 peripheral angular granules, triangular to quadrate in cross-section, two to eight located on plate central surface, also angular in cross-section, blunt tipped. Furrow spines variable, ranging from seven on the Hawaiian holotype (R= 5.2 cm, but listed as eight spines by Macan) to six to eight at R= 3.4 cm. Macan (1938) summarizes variation ranging from five to seven in the Philippine specimens to those listed by Döderlein (1924) as showing eight to eleven.

Comments. Although no new records of this species are included herein, this species is included for comparisons with the other Mediaster species. This is the most widely occurring species of Mediaster , and includes individuals identified from deep-sea settings in the Pacific and Indian Oceans (278–1630 m). Macan (1938) summarized variation from different reported localities including Hawaii, the Philippines and Indonesia. Later reports include those from Reunion Island ( Jangoux & Aziz 1988) and the Mariana Islands ( Paulay 2003). In situ observations made by the Hawaiian Undersea Research Laboratory ( Chave & Malahoff, 1998; Mah, personal observation, HURL unpublished video), show this species is orange in color and was present on a coarse, sandy bottom.

Occurrence. Hawaiian Islands, Guam, Philippines, Indonesia, Maldives, Arabian Sea, Reunion Island. 278–1630 m.

Material Examined. None