Pythonaster murrayi Sladen, 1889

Sladen 1889: 532; Alton 1966: 689; Clark and Downey 1992: 339; A.M. Clark 1996: 196.

Distribution: Off east coast of South America, 35˚39’S, 50˚47’W, 3477 m. No other records. Material Examined: None.

Notes on Occurrence

Myxaster sol and Pythonaster atlantidis occur primarily at lower bathyal to abyssal depths (> 1000 m) and are comparable in distribution to several other widely distributed, deep-sea asteroids, such as Zoroaster (Mah, 2007) and multiple members of the Porcellanasteridae (Madsen, 1961). Individuals of the same species are often found widely distributed across a single ocean basin demonstrating relatively little variation. For example, M. sol and P. atlantidis occur widely across the Atlantic and yet, show few if any, intra-specific character differences. Even species in different ocean basins (e.g., M. medusa in the central Pacific Versus. M. sol in the Atlantic) show few inter-specific character differences, suggesting either conservative morphology, character convergence and/or the potential for cryptic species or widespread larval transport.