Notes on Atlantic and other Asteroidea. 1. Benthopectinidae Ailsa M. Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Contents Synopsis 91 Introduction 91 Systematic discussion 91 Family Benthopectinidae 91 Genus Cheiraster 107 Genus Pectinaster 118 Genus Benthopecten 122 Acknowledgements 134 References 134 Synopsis Various taxa of the family Benthopectinidae, mainly from the Atlantic, are reviewed. The genera Pectinaster and Cheiraster are redefined, Pectinaster being restored to Perrier's concept of 1894 by transfer of several nominal species without specialized papularia to Cheiraster, which is enlarged by inclusion in it of Luidiaster Studer as a subgenus. Two further subgenera of Cheiraster are described, Barbadosaster for Cheiraster echinulatus (Perrier) and Christopher aster for C. mirabilis (Perrier), also including C. blakei sp. nov. and two other species. On the basis of older collections and new material, mainly from the Pillsbury and Gerda collections of the University of Miami, the morphological and geographical ranges of certain species of these two genera and of Benthopecten are extended and several names are put in synonymy, tabular keys to the Atlantic species are also included. Introduction In the course of a major review of the Atlantic species of Asteroidea, assessment of the neglected deep-sea family Benthopectinidae proved so complicated as to necessitate a preliminary paper to dispose of some of the more complicated taxonomic problems. The ordinal position of the Benthopectinidae will be discussed in the main study on Atlantic asteroids (Clark & Downey). The family was removed from the Paxillosida to the revived order Notomyotida Ludwig, 1 9 1 by McKnight (1975). Systematic discussion Family BENTHOPECTINIDAE Verrill, 1894 Archasteridae Benthopectininae Verrill, 1894 : 245-246, 268. Archasteridae Pontasterinae Verrill, 1894 : 246-247, 268. Benthopectinidae Verrill, 1899:200, 217; Ludwig, 1910:442, 458-461; Fisher, 1911:120-122; Verrill, 1914 : 310-31 1; Spencer & Wright, 1966 : U48. Plutonasteridae Pontasterinae Verrill, 1899 : 200. Cheirasteridae Ludwig, 1910 : 442, 444-447. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Zool.) 41 (3) : 9 1-1 35 Issued 29 October 1 98 1 91
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