Family OPHIDIASTERIDAE
Compiler and date details
July 2012 - Tim O’Hara, Museum Victoria
F.W.E. Rowe & J. Gates, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (1995) Updated (2001) by Tim O'Hara, Museum Victoria, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Introduction
The circum-tropical family Ophidiasteridae comprises 30 known genera, including 17 in Australian waters. Forty-nine species are recorded in the Australian fauna.
Ophidiasterids are distinguished within the order Valvatida by the following combination of character states: disc small; arms five (rarely more), long and slender, generally more or less cylindrical; body normally covered by granulose membrane; marginals usually small; aboral skeleton tessellate, plates often arranged in longitudinal series; small superambulacral plates generally present; pedicellariae foraminate or excavate, or lacking.
General References
Blake, D.B. 1987. A classification and phylogeny of post-Palaeozoic sea-stars (Asteroidea: Echinodermata). Journal of Natural History 21: 481-528
Clark, H.L. 1921. The echinoderm fauna of Torres Strait. Papers from the Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington 10: 1-224, 38 pls
Spencer, W.K. & Wright, C.W. 1966. Asterozoans. pp. U4-U107 figs 1-89 in Moore, R.C. (ed.). Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part U. Echinodermata. 3. Asterozoa-Echinozoa. Kansas : Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press Vol. 1.
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15-Sep-2023 | 04-Dec-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |