title: A taxonomic review of the genus Astrocharis Koehler (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Asteroschematidae), with a description of a new species.
abstract: A revision of the genus Astrocharis Koehler (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Asteroschematidae) is based on 41 specimens, including three syntypes of Astrocharis virgo Koehler, one syntype of Astrocharis ijimai Matsumoto and the holotype of Astrocharis gracilis Mortensen. Astrocharis gracilis is a junior subjective synonym of A. ijimai. A. virgo and A. ijimai are redescribed. A new species, Astrocharis monospinosa is described from southwestern Japan. A tabular key to the three species of the genus Astrocharis is provided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. okanishi@kahaku.go.jp
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okanishi
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D007564:Japan; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D013215:Starfish / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*