Protiaropsis Stechow, 1919

Protiaropsis Stechow, 1919: 150; Schuchert, 2010: 338.

Heterotiara Maas, 1905: 19; Mayer, 1910: 107; Bigelow, 1919: 287; Kramp, 1961: 122; Bouillon et al., 2006: 180.

Type species: Protiaropsis anonyma (Maas, 1905) .

Diagnosis. Medusae with 4 simple radial canals; no centripetal canals; gonads interradial, no transverse folds; no secondary tentacles; no ocelli.

Remarks. This homonymic genus Heterotiara was proposed by Maas (1905), with the type species Heterotiara anonyma Maas, 1905 from the Malay Archipelago. Only two imperfect specimens were found by Maas (1905) during the Siboga Expedition. It was recorded in the eastern Pacific, northwest Pacific and western Atlantic by Bigelow (1909, 1913, 1918) and Vanhöffen (1911, based on one anonyma and four minor specimens, from the “Valdivia” collection). Then Stechow (1919) founded Protiaropsis to replace Heteratiara Maas, 1905, non Heterotiara Pomel, 1883 (Echinodermata (fossil)). However, the invalid name Heterotiara Maas, 1905 was still extensively used (Kramp, 1961; Bouillon et al., 2006; Xu et al., 2012). Until the 2010s, Schuchert (2010) renewed the valid status of Protiaropsis Stechow, 1919 .

The present collection contains five specimens of the genus, one example of a new species, pedunculata sp. nov., from the East China Sea, and four examples of a new species, tetranema sp. nov., from South China Sea.