Henricia djakonovisp. nov. (Echinodermata, Echinasteridae): a new sea star species from the Sea of Japan

Abstract

A new sea star species,H. djakonovisp.n., was discovered in Rudnaya Bay in the Sea of Japan. This is a sympatric species of the well-known and common speciesHenricia pseudoleviusculaDjakonov, 1958. Both species are similar in body size and proportions, shape of skeletal plates, and life coloration, which distinguishes them from the otherHenriciaspecies inhabiting the Sea of Japan. Nevertheless, these species can be distinguished by their abactinal spines: in both species, they are short and barrel-like, but the new species is the onlyHenriciaspecies in Russian waters of the Pacific that possesses such spines with a massive, smooth, bullet-like tip. The spines inH. pseudoleviusculaare crowned with a variable number of well-developed thorns. About half (<50%) of the abactinal pseudopaxillae in the new species are oval, not crescent-shaped as inH. pseudoleviuscula.