Asterodiscides truncatus | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Valvatida |
Family: | Asterodiscididae |
Genus: | Asterodiscides |
Species: | A. truncatus |
Binomial name | |
Asterodiscides truncatus (Coleman, 1911) [1] | |
Synonyms | |
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Asterodiscides truncatus, the firebrick starfish, is a species of five-armed starfish in the family Asterodiscididae. It is native to eastern and southern Australia, the Norfolk Ridge and the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand.
The starfish has plates on its aboral (upper) surface arranged in a reticulate fashion with brightly coloured tubercles scattered between them. There are only a few inconspicuous marginal plates but the superomarginal plate at the end of each arm is very large. The tube feet are tipped with suckers and do not have any spicules. The tubercles vary in size and colour, making a red, purple and orange pattern on the aboral surface. [2] There is a pair of very large tubercles at the tip of each arm. [3]
Endemic to Australia, A. truncatus occurs on the south and east coasts, on the western end of the Norfolk Ridge and the Kermadec Islands. In southern Australia it is a deep water species found in rocky habitats at 120 m (400 ft), but in New South Wales it occurs on shallow rocky reefs in the subtidal zone. [2]
Asterodiscides truncatus feeds by grazing on sponges and other colourful benthic organisms at the base of the kelp forest, amongst which its bright colours are inconspicuous. [4] A commensal shrimp can sometimes be found living among the tubercles. [2] It has been observed releasing gametes into the water column by standing on the tips of its arms to raise its body off the sea floor. [3] However, little is known of the biology of this starfish.
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish are also known as asteroids due to being in the class Asteroidea. About 1,900 species of starfish live on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from warm, tropical zones to frigid, polar regions. They are found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, at 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the surface.
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Echinaster spinulosus, the small spine sea star, is a species of sea star found in shallow parts of the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
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Neoferdina cumingi, also known as Cuming's sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
The sun star (Heliaster helianthus) is a species of Asteroidea (starfish) in the family Heliasteridae. It is found in shallow water rocky habitats and in the kelp forests off the Pacific coast of Ecuador, Peru and Chile.
Tetrapygus is a genus of sea urchins in the family Arbaciidae. It is a monotypic genus and the only species is Tetrapygus niger which was first described by the Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coasts of South America.
Echinaster luzonicus, the Luzon sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Echinasteridae, found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. It sometimes lives symbiotically with a copepod or a comb jelly, and is prone to shed its arms, which then regenerate into new individuals.
Echinaster callosus, the warty sea star or the banded bubble star, is a species of starfish found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. The disc and five slender arms are covered with white, pink, red or violet warts, often forming transverse bands of colour on the arms.
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Euretaster insignis, commonly known as the striking sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Pterasteridae found in the central west Pacific Ocean. It is one of only three species in the order Velatida to be found in shallow water in the tropics. The young are brooded in a cavity underneath a "supradorsal" membrane.
Asterina pancerii, commonly known as the seagrass asterina, is a species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is native to shallow parts of the Mediterranean Sea where it is usually found in seagrass meadows.
Thromidia catalai, sometimes called the heavy starfish, is a species of starfish in the family Mithrodiidae in the order Valvatida. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region. Thromidia catalai is one of the largest and heaviest starfishes in the world. It is reported to weigh as much as 6 kg (13 lb) and have a diameter of 60 to 65 cm. This species was first described by the Australian biologists E. C. Pope and F. W. E. Rowe in 1977, the type locality being New Caledonia.