Podosphaeraster Clark & Wright 1962
Authors/Creators
- 1. School of the Environment, Geography and Geological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO 1 3 QL UK; & Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW 7 5 BD, UK
Description
Genus Podosphaeraster Clark & Wright, 1962
Type species. Podosphaeraster polyplax Clark & Wright, 1962, by original designation.
Diagnosis. Small spherical to sub-spherical (oblate) sphaerasterids that lack small ossicles intercalated between the large undifferentiated primary ossicles. The surface of these ossicles is composed of dense, smooth perforate stereom, raised into irregular ridges or confluent rugosities. The adambulacrals have broad rectangular external faces. The muscles dadam, padam and lim between the adambulacrals and ambulacrals are absent. The small madreporite is enclosed centrally within a large interradial ossicle.
Remarks. This Recent genus is now known from six species of worldwide distribution, which have very similar overall construction. Podosphaeraster polyplax is known from off northern Australia and the South China Sea, P. pulvinatus Rowe & Nichols,1980 from the Loyalty Islands, South Pacific, Guam in the North Pacific and the Philippines. The species P. thalassae Cherbonnier, 1970 was recovered from the north-east Atlantic, and Fujita & Rowe (2002) described P. toyoshiomaruae from southern Japan. Finally, McKnight (2006) described P. somnambulator from New Zealand. The present description is based on numerous specimens of P. pulvinatus from the Philippines, obtained by purchase (MhnhL OPH 174–176). The genus Podosphaeraster is re-placed within the Sphaerasteridae (see above).
Notes
Files
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Scientific name authorship
- Clark & Wright
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Echinodermata
- Order
- Valvatida
- Family
- Podosphaerasteridae
- Genus
- Podosphaeraster
- Taxon rank
- genus
- Taxonomic concept label
- Podosphaeraster Clark, 1962 sec. Gale, 2021
References
- Clark, A. M. & Wright, C. W. 1962. A new genus and species of Recent starfishes belonging to the aberrant family Sphaerasteridae, with notes on the possible origin and affinities of the family. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 13 (5), 243 - 251.
- Rowe, F. W. E. & Nichols, D. 1980. A new species of Podosphaeraster Clark & Wright 1962 (Echinodermata; Asteroidea) from the Pacific. Micronesia, 16, 289 - 295.
- Cherbonnier, G. 1970. Podosphaeraster thalassae, nov. sp., esp`ece actuelle d' ast´erie de la famille jurassique des Sphaerasteridae. Comptes Rendus de l' Acad´emie des Sciences Paris, 271, 203 - 206.
- Fujita, T. & Rowe, F. W. E. 2002. Podosphaerasteridae fam. nov. (Echinodermata: Asteroidea: Valvatida) with a new species, Podosphaeraster toyoshiomaruae, from southern Japan. Species Diversity, 7, 317 - 332. doi: 10.12782 / specdiv. 7.317
- McKnight, D. G. 2006. Echinodermata: Asteroidea (Seastars). 3. Orders Velatida, Spinulosida, Forcipulatida, Brisingida with addenda to Paxillosida and Valvatida. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Memoir, 120, 1 - 187.