Freyastera sexradiata

Freyastera sexradiata (Perrier, 1885c) Reports for the Azores:

Freyella sexradiata Perrier, 1885 c— $ Koehler 1909: 129–130, pl. 23, fig. 6; Mortensen 1927a: 122; Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972: 388; Gage et al. 1983: 285;

Freyastera sexradiata (Perrier, 1885c) — Downey 1986: 40–41, fig. 20; A.M. Clark & Downey 1992: 481–482, figs. 74c–d; García-Diez et al. 2005: 48; Dilman 2014: 38–39.

Type locality: Between the Azores and Iberian Peninsula (42°19’00”N, 21°15’46”W).

See: Perrier (1894: 82, 89–90, pl. 3, fig. 2, as Freyella sexradiata); Downey (1986); A.M. Clark & Downey (1992).

Occurrence: North Atlantic deep waters, from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (SW of Ireland) southwards to Gibraltar (Gage et al. 1983) and westwards to North America (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992) including the Azores (Koehler 1909).

Depth: 4,020 –5,110 m (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992); AZO: 4,020 m (Koehler 1909).

Habitat: soft substrates, mud to Globigerina ooze (Koehler 1909, Grieg 1932).

Remarks: the only known record of Freyastera sexradiata in the Azores was made by Koehler (1909) based on two discs and several arm fragments collected by Princesse Alice (sta 527: 38°09’N, 23°15’45”W, 4,020 m). The scarcity of records in the Azores might be explained by the great depths at which this species lives and the frail structure that characterises this sea star, as F. sexradiata was never recovered intact (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992).