Persephonaster patagiatus ( Sladen, 1889 )

Madeira, Patrícia, Kroh, Andreas, Cordeiro, Ricardo, De, António M., Martins, Frias & Ávila, Sérgio P., 2019, The Echinoderm Fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic Ocean), Zootaxa 4639 (1), pp. 1-231 : 78

Persephonaster patagiatus ( Sladen, 1889)

Reports for the Azores:

non Psilaster andromeda (D̹ben & Karen, 1846)— $ Perrier 1896a: 51 [misidentification];

Psilasteropsis patagiatus ( Sladen, 1889) — $ Koehler 1909: 62–63, pl. 3, fig. 2, pl. 4, fig. 3, pl. 19, fig. 1, 1921a: 2; Farran 1913: 7; Grieg 1932: 19;

Persephonaster patagiatus ( Sladen, 1889) — Mortensen 1927a: 65–66, fig. 37; A.M. Clark & Downey 1992: 63–64, figs. 14d, 15f–g, pl. 19, figs. A–C; García-Diez et al. 2005: 46; Dilman 2006: 180, 2014: 27;

Psilaster patagiatus Sladen, 1889 — Gage et al. 1983: 275.

Type locality: off Cape Verde .

See: A.M. Clark & Downey (1992); Benavides-Serrato et al. (2011: 127).

Occurrence: North Atlantic, from the Denmark Strait (SW of Iceland; A.M. Clark & Downey 1992), south of the Rockall Trough ( Harvey et al. 1988) to NW Africa, including the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde ( Koehler 1909); also reported for the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992).

Depth: 730– 2,970 m (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992); AZO: 1,095 –1,919 m ( Koehler 1909).

Habitat: soft sediments ( Koehler 1909).

Larval stage: lecithotrophic (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992).

Remarks: Perrier (1896a) reported Psilaster andromeda based on material collected by Hirondelle in the Azores. Later, Koehler (1909) re-examined the material and concluded that Perrier confused P. andromeda with Persephonaster patagiatus (= Psilasteropsis patagiatus ), and reassigned the specimens to the latter species (see remarks under P. andromeda andromeda ).