| Stelleroidea | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Ochre sea star on beach at Olympic National Park | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Superclass: | Stelleroidea Lamarck, 1816 [nom. transl. et correct. Gregory, 1900 (pro les Stellerides Lamarck, 1816)] [1] |
| Classes | |
In 1900, Stelleroidea was included as a class in F. A. Bather's echinoderm taxonomy, which grouped Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea within it as subclasses due to their Paleozoic history. [3] In 1966, the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology included Stelleroidea as the only class within the subphylum Asterozoa, with Somasteroidea, Asteroidea, and Ophiuroidea as subclasses. [4] By a 1980 revision of the Treatise's taxonomy, Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea had been promoted to classes in place of Stelleroidea. [5]