Paralophaster Fisher 1940

• Main Authors: Mah, Christopher L., Fujita, Toshihiko
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2020
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Echinodermata; Asteroidea; Valvatida; Solasteridae; Paralophaster; Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3706291; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03DC87ABFFD7022D17E81FD8FD7995D6

Paralophaster Fisher, 1940 Paralophaster Fisher, 1940: 175; A. M. Clark 1962: 52; McKnight 2006: 10. Myoraster Fisher, 1940: 181. Comments. Paralophaster as outlined by Fisher (1940) are five-rayed solasterids diagnosed based on superomarginals which are largely identical with other abactinal paxillae and have abactinal paxillae arranged in oblique transverse rows. Lophaster has enlarged and widely separated superomarginal paxillae without paxillae in transverse rows. Based on Mah and Foltz (2011) Paralophaster was supported as the sister taxon to the clade including Lophast- er as the sister to a branch containing Solaster and Crossaster (Fig. 1), suggesting the multi-armed condition was derived relative to a plesiomorphic five rayed condition. Paralophaster contains four species, three of which occur primarily in Antarctic settings with one species, Paralophaster hyalinus H. E. S. Clark, 1970 from New Zealand. This species represents the first occurrence of Paralophaster outside of the Southern Hemisphere. Published as part of Mah, Christopher L. & Fujita, Toshihiko, 2020, New species and occurrence records of Japanese Solasteridae and Ganeriidae including a new species of Paralophaster from the North Pacific with an overview of Hyalinothrix, pp. 67-100 in Zootaxa 4750 (1) on page 75, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4750.1.4, http://zenodo.org/record/3702847