Actiniscus
ACTINISCUS (Ehrenberg, 1841, p.149-150) Ehrenberg, 1843a, p.103. Siliceous dinoflagellate genus. Originally Dictyocha subgenus Actiniscus, subsequently (and now) Actiniscus. Taxonomic junior synonyms: Lutetianella (name not validly published) and Microdistephanus (name not validly published), both according to Dumitrică (1973, p.820); Gymnaster, according to Dumitrică (1973, p.820). The designation of Actiniscus pentasterius as "type species" by Downie and Sarjeant (January, 1965, p.81-82) has precedence over the designation of Actiniscus elegans as "type species" by Norris and Sarjeant (March, 1965, p.9). Dumitrică (1973, p.820) considered the extant genus Diaster Meunier, 1909 to be a possible taxonomic junior synonym of Actiniscus. The name Actiniscus was first used in Ehrenberg (1841), who cited the name twice as as sub-entity of Dictyocha - "Dictyocha (Actiniscus) Pentasterias" (p.149) and "Dictyocha (Actiniscus) Sirius" (p.150). It was next mentioned by Ehrenberg (1843a, p.103) as "Actiniscus Sol und septenarius" within non-descriptive text. It is not clear to us that the generic name Actiniscus should be considered validly published by Ehrenberg (1841, 1843a) as it lacks a description in those publications. But for now we follow the general concensus in accepting the name as valid as of 1841 as a subgenus, raised to generic rank in Ehrenberg (1843a). Type: not designated; "type species" is Actiniscus pentasterias, designated by Downie and Sarjeant (January, 1965, p.81-82).
Parent: Family Actiniscaceae
Species List: