Asterinides folium ( Luetken , 1860)

Gondim, Anne Isabelley, Christoffersen, Martin Lindsey & Pereira Dias, Thelma Lucia, 2014, Taxonomic guide and historical review of starfishes in northeastern Brazil (Echinodermata, Asteroidea), ZooKeys 449, pp. 1-56 : 10-11

Asterinides folium ( Luetken, 1860) Figure 7a-e

Asterina minuta Gray, 1840: 289.

Asteriscus folium Lütken, 1860: 60-61.

Asterina folium A. Agassiz, 1877: 106, pl. 14, figs 7-9.

Asterinides folium Verrill, 1913: 479; Brito 1962: 3; 1968: 17, pl. 7, figs 2-3; 1971: 262. Tommasi 1970: 15, fig. 38. Oliveira et al. 2010: 3, fig. 2a.

Material examined.

Paraíba: 06°59'S; 34°47'W, 1spec., UFPB/ECH.572, 07.III.2006, 10m. Bahia: Camaçari, Guarajuba, Busca Vida Beach, 1spec., UFBA00685, 01.II.2006; 2spec., UFBA00983, I.2010, 23m; 1spec., UFBA01163, VII.2010, 25m; 2spec., UFBA01107, I.2010, 23m; Salvador, Todos os Santos Bay, 1spec., UFBA01107, 05.IV. 1997, 12m; Salvador: Itapuã, 12°57'28"S; 38°21'22"W, 1spec., UFBA00528, 19.XI.2007, 1m.

Type locality.

Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands ( O’Loughlin 2002).

Description.

Body inflated, pentagonal (Fig. 7a, b). Five short arms (some specimens may have 4-6 arms). Abactinal figs imbricated, decreasing in size towards the margin of the body, with 2-4 short, hyaline, divergent spines, which have the extremity trifurcate (Fig. 7c). Between each of these figs there is a papula (Fig. 7c). Anus located in the center of the abactinal surface. Superomarginal figs similar to the remaining abactinal figs, but with more numerous and slightly longer spines, forming a dense bundle (Fig. 7a). Papulae restricted to the abactinal surface. Actinal figs similar to the abactinal figs, but a little bigger and longer, having 1-3 divergent spines, also similar to the dorsal ones, but slightly longer (Fig. 7b). Inferomarginal figs similar to the remaining actinal figs. Adambulacral figs with three thin, vitreous, elongate spines (~0.035 mm), having the tips trifurcate (Fig. 7d). Six thin, vitreous, elongate oral spines (~0.43 mm) (Fig. 7e).

Colour. Juvenile specimens vary from white to cream-coloured, larger juveniles are yellow to reddish, while adults are blue or greenish-blue ( Hendler et al. 1995). Brito (1968) recorded a dark grayish-blue for 25 specimens from Trindade Island (ES).

Distribution.

Bermudas, Florida, Bahamas, Belize, Panama, and Brazil ( Verrill 1915, Clark and Downey 1992, Hendler et al. 1995, Alvarado et al. 2008, Benavides-Serrato et al. 2011). In Brazil: BA, RJ, and Trindade Island ( Brito 1962, 1968, 1971, Oliveira et al. 2010). In the presente study we record for the first time its presence in the State of Paraíba. Intertidal to 15 m in depth ( Hendler et al. 1995).

Remarks.

Only two species of the genus Asterinides are known from the Atlantic Ocean, Asterinides folium and Asterinides hartmeyeri ( Döderlein, 1910). The first is recorded for Bermudas and southern Brazil and the second only for the Caribbean region. According to Clark and Downey (1992) these species are partially sympatric, and for this reason have previously easily been confused with each other. In a revision of family Asterinidae based on molecular and morphological data, O’Loughlin and Waters (2004) transferred Asterinides folium and Asterinides hartmeyeri from the genus Asterina to the genus Asterinides , remarking on the morphological similarities between these two species. Asterinides folium differs from Asterinides hartmeyeri for having bigger papular pores, 6 to 7 series of actinal figs and abactinal figs arranged into two rows. A broad discussion of the main differences between these two species is given by Clark and Downey (1992). According to Hendler et al. (1995), this species rarely reaches 2.5 cm in diameter. Specimens examined in this study had a larger ray (R, maximum of 7.76 mm) and differed from those described by Hendler (op cit.) for not having narrow radial areas inflated, having instead the abactinal surface completely inflated.

Ecological notes.

This species lives in association with coral reefs, being found particularly under rocks or corals of the reef flat ( Hendler et al. 1995). The specimen from Paraíba recorded in this study was found associated with rhodolite beds at 10 m depth. Although the species is reported from several localities, is has never been found in large numbers ( Hendler et al. 1995, Benavides-Serrato et al. 2011). Only Brito (1971) observed this species to be relatively abundant mainly under rocks at Trindade Island.