| Goniasteridae Temporal range: | |
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| Pentagonaster duebeni | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Valvatida |
| Family: | Goniasteridae Forbes, 1841 |
| Genera | |
See text | |
Goniasteridae (the biscuit stars) constitute the largest family of sea stars, included in the order Valvatida. They are mostly deep-dwelling species, but the family also include several colorful shallow tropical species.
Goniasteridae are usually middle-sized sea stars with a characteristic double range of marginal plates bordering the disk and arms. Most of them have five arms, often short and triangular, around a broad central disc; many species are pentagonal or subpentagonal, covered densely with granular, seed-like protuberances, hence the name of the family "seed-star" (gonium+aster). The aboral face is often covered with tiny spines looking like paxillae. Pedicellariae are often valvate, and the gonads are located at the interradius. [1]
Main identification keys for this group include the presence of paxillae, granules, teeth, spines, or the shape and dimensions of marginal plate. [2]
They occur predominantly on deep-water continental shelf habitats (but a part of them inhabit shallow waters) [3] in all the world's oceans, being the most diverse in the Indo-Pacific region. [4]
About 260 extant species within 70 genera are currently known, which make this family the most diverse of all the sea stars, [5] even if half of the genera are monospecific. Species belonging to the Ferdininae subfamily have been imported from Ophidiasteridae thanks to a large revision of these two families in 2017 [6]
According to World Register of Marine Species, this family includes the following genera: [7]
Lists of genera containing extinct species according to fossilworks. [8]
The Valvatida are an order of starfish in the class Asteroidea, which contains 695 species in 172 genera in 17 families.
The Asterinidae are a large family of sea stars in the order Valvatida.
The Astropectinidae are a family of sea stars in the order Paxillosida. Usually, these starfish live on the seabed and immerse themselves in soft sediment such as sand and mud.
Astropecten is a genus of sea stars of the family Astropectinidae.
Coscinasterias is a genus of sea stars of the family Asteriidae.
The Oreasteridae are a family of sea stars in the class Asteroidea.
Hippasteria is one of 70 genera of sea stars in the diverse family Goniasteridae.
Fromia is a genus of starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
The Brisingidae are a family of starfish found only in the deep sea. They inhabit both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at abyssal depths, and also occur in the Southern Ocean and around Antarctica at slightly shallower depths.
Poraniidae is a family of starfishes in the order Valvatida.
The Freyellidae are a family of deep-sea-dwelling starfish. It is one of two families in the order Brisingida. The majority of species in this family are found in Antarctic waters and near Australia. Other species have been found near New Zealand and the United States.
Evoplosoma is a genus of deep-sea sea star in the family Goniasteridae.
Circeaster is a genus of abyssal sea stars in the family Goniasteridae.
Astroceramus is a genus of abyssal sea stars in the family Goniasteridae.
Evoplosoma voratus is a species of deep sea corallivores. This species in particular is found in seamounts in the North Pacific.
Mediaster is a genus of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It was circumscribed in 1857 by William Stimpson for M. aequalis, the genus's type species. Its junior synonym is the genus Isaster, which was circumscribed in 1894 by Addison Emery Verrill for the species now known as M. bairdi. Verrill himself synonymized the two genus names in 1899.
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.
Apollonaster kelleyi is a species of abyssal sea star within the family Goniasteridae, that was discovered in 2015 in the Hawaiian region. It is identified as part of the Apollonaster genus based on its bare abactinal plate surfaces and multiple accessory granule rows on its abactinal plates. The species name kelleyi was chosen in honor of Dr. Christopher Kelley, director of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.
Nymphaster is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
Chitonaster is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
Media related to Goniasteridae at Wikimedia Commons
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