taxonID	type	format	identifier	references	title	description	created	creator	contributor	publisher	audience	source	license	rightsHolder	datasetID
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329743/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329743	FIGURE 2. Ethanol-preserved specimens of the type series. GW4202 (A) is the holotype, all the others (B–D) are paratypes. Note that individual GW4266 is a juvenile specimen. Size of labels 6 × 2 cm.	FIGURE 2. Ethanol-preserved specimens of the type series. GW4202 (A) is the holotype, all the others (B–D) are paratypes. Note that individual GW4266 is a juvenile specimen. Size of labels 6 × 2 cm.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329745/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329745	FIGURE 3. A: Indo-Pacific ‘Acanthaster planci’ species complex, COI ML tree based on the haplotype alignment of Vogler et al. (2008), supplemented with five samples from Israel (see text for details) extracted from full mitochondrial genome sequences from Yuasa et al. (2021) and four sequences of the type series of Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (GW4xxx, highlighted in bold). The tree was rooted with Acanthaster brevispinus (accession number AB231476), showing the deep divergence among, and little diversity within, species/geographic clades. ML bootstrap values are above branches, bootstrap values of the NJ clustering of haplotypes below branches. B: Geographic distribution of COI-barcoded clades and of type localities of names (Figure 1 from Haszprunar et al. 2017): red—Red Sea (RS) species; blue—Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) species (A. mauritiensis); yellow—Northern Indian Ocean (NIO) species (A. planci); green—Pacific Ocean (PO) species (A. cf. solaris). Location of type localities of nominal Acanthaster species: asterisk—A. planci; cross—A. echinites; triangle—A. solaris, square—A. mauritiensis; circle—A. ellisii pseudoplanci; “?” - the type locality of A. ellisii was not specified: in South American waters of the East Pacific.	FIGURE 3. A: Indo-Pacific ‘Acanthaster planci’ species complex, COI ML tree based on the haplotype alignment of Vogler et al. (2008), supplemented with five samples from Israel (see text for details) extracted from full mitochondrial genome sequences from Yuasa et al. (2021) and four sequences of the type series of Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (GW4xxx, highlighted in bold). The tree was rooted with Acanthaster brevispinus (accession number AB231476), showing the deep divergence among, and little diversity within, species/geographic clades. ML bootstrap values are above branches, bootstrap values of the NJ clustering of haplotypes below branches. B: Geographic distribution of COI-barcoded clades and of type localities of names (Figure 1 from Haszprunar et al. 2017): red—Red Sea (RS) species; blue—Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) species (A. mauritiensis); yellow—Northern Indian Ocean (NIO) species (A. planci); green—Pacific Ocean (PO) species (A. cf. solaris). Location of type localities of nominal Acanthaster species: asterisk—A. planci; cross—A. echinites; triangle—A. solaris, square—A. mauritiensis; circle—A. ellisii pseudoplanci; “?” - the type locality of A. ellisii was not specified: in South American waters of the East Pacific.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329741/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329741	FIGURE 1. Illustrations of pedicellariae and spines (A–C). A: Subambulacral spines, top: bundle with two equally long spines each, bottom: bundle with four unequal long spines; B: Aboral pedicellariae with two valves; C: Close up of part of one arm of paratype GW4081, showing three different spine types indicated by arrows: latero-oral spines (dark blue), oral spines (yellow), subambulacral spines (turquoise). The actinal pedicellariae (red) are associated with the first row of oral spines.	FIGURE 1. Illustrations of pedicellariae and spines (A–C). A: Subambulacral spines, top: bundle with two equally long spines each, bottom: bundle with four unequal long spines; B: Aboral pedicellariae with two valves; C: Close up of part of one arm of paratype GW4081, showing three different spine types indicated by arrows: latero-oral spines (dark blue), oral spines (yellow), subambulacral spines (turquoise). The actinal pedicellariae (red) are associated with the first row of oral spines.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329747/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329747	FIGURE 4. Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (holotype GW4202) (A-B) Aboral spines, (C-F) oral spines and (G-H) pedicellariae of four adult specimens of Acanthaster benziei sp. nov.: (A) Primary spines, (B) Secondary spines, (C) Latero-oral spines, (D) Circumoral spines, (E) Oral spines, (F) Subambulacral spines, (G) Aboral pedicellariae, (H) Oral pedicellariae.	FIGURE 4. Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (holotype GW4202) (A-B) Aboral spines, (C-F) oral spines and (G-H) pedicellariae of four adult specimens of Acanthaster benziei sp. nov.: (A) Primary spines, (B) Secondary spines, (C) Latero-oral spines, (D) Circumoral spines, (E) Oral spines, (F) Subambulacral spines, (G) Aboral pedicellariae, (H) Oral pedicellariae.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329751/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329751	FIGURE 6. Typical primary spines, showing species-specific variation among (A, B) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (C) A. planci, (D) A. mauritiensis, and (E) A. cf. solaris.	FIGURE 6. Typical primary spines, showing species-specific variation among (A, B) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (C) A. planci, (D) A. mauritiensis, and (E) A. cf. solaris.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329753/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329753	FIGURE 7. Typical latero-oral spines, showing species-specific variation among (A) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (B) A. planci, (C) A. mauritiensis, and (D) A. cf. solaris.	FIGURE 7. Typical latero-oral spines, showing species-specific variation among (A) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (B) A. planci, (C) A. mauritiensis, and (D) A. cf. solaris.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329755/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329755	FIGURE 8. Circumoral spines, showing species-specific variation among (A, B) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (C) A. planci, (D) A. mauritiensis, and (E) A. cf. solaris.	FIGURE 8. Circumoral spines, showing species-specific variation among (A, B) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (C) A. planci, (D) A. mauritiensis, and (E) A. cf. solaris.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329749/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329749	FIGURE 5. Typical colouration of Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (A) GW4081 (Paratype, hiding during the day under a crevice), Al-Lith, Saudi Arabia, (photo credit: Oliver Voigt), (B–D) Thuwal Reefs, Saudi Arabia (photo credit: Gert Wörheide). Approximate diameter of specimens is 25–30 cm.	FIGURE 5. Typical colouration of Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (A) GW4081 (Paratype, hiding during the day under a crevice), Al-Lith, Saudi Arabia, (photo credit: Oliver Voigt), (B–D) Thuwal Reefs, Saudi Arabia (photo credit: Gert Wörheide). Approximate diameter of specimens is 25–30 cm.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
817B87971B48FF90AEAE5E1DFE68F8C6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage	image/png	https://zenodo.org/record/7329757/files/figure.png	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329757	FIGURE 9. Oral pedicellariae, showing species-specific variation among (A) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (B) A. planci, (C) A. mauritiensis, and (D) A. cf. solaris.	FIGURE 9. Oral pedicellariae, showing species-specific variation among (A) Acanthaster benziei sp. nov., (B) A. planci, (C) A. mauritiensis, and (D) A. cf. solaris.	2022-11-17	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard		Zenodo	biologists	Wörheide, Gert;Kaltenbacher, Emilie;Cowan, Zara-Louise;Haszprunar, Gerhard			
