Pectinaster filholi Perrier, 1885c

Reports for the Azores:

Pectinaster filholi Perrier, 1885 c— $ Perrier 1894: 280–285, pl. 18, figs. 2a–b, pl. 20, figs. 3a–d; Mortensen 1927a: 71; Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972: 378; A.M. Clark 1981: 118–121; Gage et al. 1983: 277; $ A.M. Clark & Downey 1992: 139–140, figs. 21b, 22l–m, pl. 34, figs. A–C; Dilman 2006: 184, 2008: 139, 2013: 569, 2014: 31.

Type locality: off Cap Blanc.

See: A.M. Clark (1981); A.M. Clark & Downey (1992).

Occurrence: Atlantic; in the west from south of Nova Scotia to Delaware (Sladen 1889); in the east from the Rockall Trough (Gage et al. 1983) southwards to South Africa (Clark 1981) and on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from the Reykjanes Ridge (South of Iceland; Dilman 2006) south to the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (Dilman 2008) and the Azores (Perrier 1894); also reported off the River Plate, South America (Sladen 1889).

Depth: 1,258 –4,850 m (AZO: 1,258 m; Sladen 1889, Perrier 1894).

Habitat: soft sediment, mud or Globigerina ooze (Sladen 1889, Gage et al. 1983).

Larval stage: lecithotrophic (McEdward & Miner 2001).

Remarks: Perrier (1885c, 1894) described the deep-sea asteroid Pectinaster filholi based on the material collected by Talisman, which included the only known specimen from Azorean waters (sta 126, 1883: 38°37’N, 28°20’46”W, 1,258 m), the same specimen re-examined later by A.M. Clark & Downey (1992).