What is Knightaster?

Based on the description outlined for Knightaster bakeri by H. E. S. Clark (1972) and H. E. S. Clark & McKnight (2001) and compared with details summarized by O’Loughlin & Waters (2004), several relevant characters suggest its membership should be ascribed to the Asterinidae. Clark (1972) proposed affinities with several ganeriid genera, such as Cycethra, but provided no characters for these relationships.

Based on Clark’s (1972) description, Knightaster lacks paxillae, which are present in the other Hyalinothricinae, and has a surface with flattened, spine-bearing abactinal plates arranged into an irregular reticulum rather than imbricate plates forming a series of single regular papular pore openings. Knightaster displays several character similarities asterinids which are narrow at the base of the arm, elongate and sub cylindrical in cross-section, such as Nepanthia or Pseudonepanthia. Considering the complexity of the asterinids, it is beyond the scope of this study to further reconcile Knightaster without evaluation and comparison within the Asterinidae.