Echinodermata of Lakshadweep, Arabian Sea with the description of a new genus and a species

Abstract

During the recent dives around reef slopes of some islands in the Lakshadweep, a total of 52 species of echinoderms, including four unidentified holothurians, were encountered. These included 12 species each of Crinoidea, Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea and eightspecies each of Echinoidea and Holothuroidea. Of these 11 species of Crinoidea [Capillaster multiradiatus (Linnaeus), Comaster multifidus (Müller), Phanogenia distincta (Carpenter), Phanogenia gracilis (Hartlaub), Phanogenia multibrachiata (Carpenter), Himerometra robustipinna (Carpenter), Lamprometra palmata (Müller), Stephanometra indica (Smith), Stephanometra tenuipinna (Hartlaub), Cenometra bella (Hartlaub) and Tropiometra carinata (Lamarck)], four species of Asteroidea [Fromia pacifica H.L. Clark, F. nodosa A.M. Clark, Choriaster granulatus Lütken and Echinaster luzonicus (Gray)] and four species of Ophiuroidea [Gymnolophus obscura (Ljungman), Ophiothrix (Ophiothrix) marginata Koehler, Ophiomastix elegans Peters and Indophioderma ganapatii gen et. sp. nov. and one species of Holothuroidea [Stichopus herrmanni Semper] are newly recorded from Lakshadweep. The goniasterid asteroids Fromia pacifica H.L. Clark and F. nodosa A.M. Clark and the ophiotrichid ophiuroid Ophiothrix (Ophiothrix) marginata Koehler are additions to the Indian echinoderm fauna while the ophiodermatid ophiuroid genus Indophioderma gen. nov. with the new species Indophioderma ganapatii sp. nov. as type species described here is new to science. An updated list of 161 species of echinoderms consisting of 18 species of Crinoidea, 41 species of Asteroidea, 38 species of Ophiuroidea, 29 species of Echinoidea and 35 species of Holothuroidea, is provided.