Japanese waters contain a highly diverse echinoderm fauna including many undiscovered species, especially in deeperwater settings. Molecular phylogenetic data has shown a close relationship between three established families of asteroids,the Asterinidae, the Solasteridae and the Ganeriidae, which are three groups that are well-represented in the region. We present two undescribed species of solasterids,
Lophaster cactorum n. sp. and
Paralophaster gomo n. sp., the latter represents a genus which had previously been known primarily from Antarctic settings. New occurrence records of the
tropical deep-sea Pacific solasterid
Rhipidaster vannipes Sladen, 1889 has led to synonymy of
Xenorias polyctenius Fisher,1913. Three undescribed species of
Hyalinothrix,
Hyalinothrix diversus n. sp.,
Hyaliothrix enoki n. sp. and
Hyalinothrix virtrispinum n. sp. are described.
Nepanthia grangei McKnight, 2001 is transferred to
Hyalinothrix. A new subfamily, the Hyalinothricinae is established within the Asterinidae, including
Tarachaster and
Seriaster, which was formerly assigned to the Solasteridae.
Knightaster is reassigned to the Asterinidae from the Ganeriidae.
