Astropecten platyacanthus? ( Philippi, 1837 )

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 : 75-76

Astropecten platyacanthus? ( Philippi, 1837)

Reports for the Azores:

Astropecten platyacanthus ( Philippi, 1837) —? $ Barrois 1888: 71; Koehler 1914b: 274; Pereira 1997: 336;

non Astropecten bispinosus ( Otto, 1823) — Ludwig 1897: 16–31, pl. 2, fig. 6, pl. 6, fig. 6; Koehler 1921b: 46–47, fig. 33, 34; Mortensen 1927a: 56; Parenzan 1934: 211–216, fig. 7; Nobre 1938: 51–52, figs. 23, 24; Madsen 1950: 181–182; Tortonese 1965: 140–141, fig. 62; Micael & Costa 2010: 322; Micael et al. 2012: 5 [all these are based on the erroneous synonymy by Ludwig 1897].

Type locality: Mediterranean Sea.

See: Tortonese (1965: 142–143, figs. 63, 64).

Occurrence: Mediterranean Sea ( Tortonese 1965); reported also from the? Azores ( Barrois 1888).

Depth: 2–64 m ( Tortonese 1965);? AZO : 15–20 m ( Barrois 1888).

Habitat: soft substrates, on sand and mud ( Tortonese 1965).

Remarks: the first and only record of Astropecten platyacanthus in the archipelago was reported by Barrois (1888), based on the identification by Ludwig. Historically, Astropecten platyacanthus was considered by many authors as a variety of A. bispinosus ( Otto, 1823) . In his review of the Mediterranean sea stars Ludwig (1897) re-assigned Barrois (1888) record under the later species, a decision repeated in later literature. A.M. Clark & Downey (1992) considered both A. bispinosus and A. platyacanthus endemic to the Mediterranean, and stated that the reports from the Atlantic were based on misidentifications or doubtful locality data. Pereira (1997) concludes that the occurrence of this species in the Azores is possible but unlikely. See above remarks under A. hermatophilus .