Sixteen out of the seventeen species of shallow-water starfishes reported with certainty from Inhaca Island and Maputo Bay were collected by the author. The seventeenth, Archaster angulatus, was recorded from there by Jangoux (1973). An identification key to these species, both in English and in Portuguese is presented. Four species have not been mentioned previously from Inhaca waters, viz. Astropecten monacanthus (because of earlier incorrect identifications), Monachaster sanderi, not known to occur further south than Zanzibar, Fromia milleporella and Ophidiaster hemprichii, which were not previously known to occur south of Madagascar. Stellaster equestris was found washed ashore on a sandy beach a little north of Maputo. The earlier recorded presence in... |