Hippasteria Explained

Hippasteria is one of 70 genera of sea stars in the diverse family Goniasteridae.

Description and characteristics

These sea stars are regular, five-armed starfishes, with a large and flattened central disc. Most of the species in this genus live in deep seas, where they seem to be predators of deep sea coral and cnidarians.^[1]

The species Hippasteria phrygiana may be one of the most widely distributed species : it is present in the 3 main oceanic basins.^[2]

List of species

According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the genus Hippasteria is composed of the following twelve species:

• Hippasteria californica Fisher, 1905
• Hippasteria falklandica Fisher, 1940
• Hippasteria heathi Fisher, 1905
• Hippasteria imperialis Goto, 1914
• Hippasteria leiopelta Fisher, 1910
• Hippasteria lepidonotus (Fisher, 1905)
• Hippasteria magellanica Perrier, 1888
• Hippasteria mcknighti Mah, Neill, Eleaume & Foltz 2014
• Hippasteria muscipula Mah, Neill, Eleaume & Foltz 2014
• Hippasteria nozawai Goto, 1914
• Hippasteria phrygiana (Parelius, 1768)
• Hippasteria tiburoni Mah, Neill, Eleaume & Foltz 2014

Bibliography

• Mah . Christopher L. . Neill . K. . Eléaume . Marc. Foltz . D.. 2014 . New Species and global revision of Hippasteria (Hippasterinae: Goniasteridae; Asteroidea; Echinodermata) . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 171 . 2. 422–456 . 10.1111/zoj.12131 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Hippest Post you Know! New Hippasteria species! . Mah . Christopher L. . 2014-06-10 . The Echinoblog .
2. Web site: Starfish Mystery! 3 Oceans,2 Hemispheres,but ONE species?! . Mah . Christopher L. . 2013-02-12 . The Echinoblog .