MANILA, Philippines—Two new species of sea stars have been discovered in the Philippines, the National Museum announced last Friday. The two species, scientifically named Hyalinothrix diversus and Hyalinothrix vitrispinum, were found off Balut Island at depths of around 150 to 250 meters. Good news from the #NationalMuseumPH's partners: TWO NEW VARIABLY SHAPED AND ELONGATE GLASSINE SPINED SEA STAR SPECIES… Posted by National Museum of the Philippines on Thursday, April 2, 2020The name H. diversus stemmed from the Latin word “diversus,“ for the species displays an “unusually diverse morphology of the plates on the body surface” which is known as “paxillae,” according to the National Museum. H. vitrispinum meanwhile was derived from the Latin word “vitrum,” meaning glass or glassy, and “spinum” for the elongate glassine spines covering the surface plates present on this species. “The article’s main focus is the discovery of six new records and four undescribed species of sea stars from Japanese waters with records of occurrence in the Philippines resulting from the study of the asteroid collections at the National Museum of Nature and Science (NSMT) in Tsukuba, Japan,” the National Museum noted.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 08, 2020 10:18 UTC