Asterina (starfish) explained

Asterina is a genus of asteroideans in the family Asterinidae.

The species occurring in Australian waters are considered to not be congeneric with the type species A. gibbosa (Pennant, 1777) by Rowe and Gates (1995), and will possibly be assigned to another genus or a new genus. Rowe and Gates (1995) also suggested that Asterina should be restricted to Atlantic waters.^[1]

Species

• Asterina fimbriata Perrier, 1875^[2]
• Asterina gibbosa (Pennant, 1777)^[3]
• Asterina gracilispina Clark, 1923^[4]
• Asterina hoensonae O'Loughlin, 2009^[5]
• Asterina krausii Gray, 1840^[6]
• Asterina lorioli Kœhler, 1910^[7]
• Asterina martinbarriosi López-Márquez, Acevedo, Manjón-Cabeza, García-Jiménez, Templado & Machordom, 2018^[8]
• Asterina pancerii (Gasco, 1876)^[9]
• Asterina phylactica Emson & Crump, 1979^[10]
• Asterina pusilla Perrier, 1875^[2]
• Asterina pygmaea Verrill, 1878^[11]
• Asterina squamata Perrier, 1875^[2]
• Asterina stellaris Perrier, 1875^[2]
• Asterina stellifera (Möbius, 1859)^[12]
  • Asterina stellifera obtusa Leipoldt, 1895^[13]
• Asterina vicentae López-Márquez, Acevedo, Manjón-Cabeza, García-Jiménez, Templado & Machordom, 2018^[8]

Further reading

• Clark, A. M. (1993). An index of name of recent Asteroidea – Part 2: Valvatida. In Jangoux, M. & Lawrence, J. (Eds.), Echinoderm Studies (187–366). Volume 4. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema.
• Clark, A. M. & Downey, M. E. (1992). Starfishes of the Atlantic. London: Chapman & Hall.

Notes and References

1. Rowe, F. & Gates, J. (1995). Echinodermata. In Wells, A. (Ed.), Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Volume 33. Melbourne: CSIRO Australia.
2. Perrier, E. (1875). Revision de la Collection de Stellerides du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Paris: C. Reinwald.
3. [Thomas Pennant|Pennant, T]
4. Clark, H. L. (1923). The echinoderm fauna of South Africa. Annals of the South African Museum, 13, 221–435.
5. O'Loughlin, P. M. (2009). New asterinid species from Africa and Australia (Echinodermata: Asteroidea: Asterinidae). Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria, 66, 203–213.
6. Gray, J. E. (1840). A synopsis of the genera and species of the class Hypostoma (Asterias Linnaeus). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 6, 175–184.
7. Kœhler, R. (1910). An Account of the Shallow-water Asteroidea. Volume 2. Calcutta: Indian Museum.
8. López-Márquez, V., Acevedo, I., Manjón-Cabeza, M., García-Jiménez, R., Templado, J. & Machordom, A. (2018). Looking for morphological evidence of cryptic species in Asterina Nardo, 1834 (Echinodermata: Asteroidea); the redescription of Asterina pancerii (Gasco, 1870) and the description of two new species. Invertebrate Systematics, 32(3), 505–523.
9. Gasco, F. (1876). Descrizione di alcuni Echinodermi nuovi o per la prima volta trovati nel Mediterraneo. Rendiconti dell' Academia delle Science Fisiche e Mathematiche, Napoli, 15, 32–41.
10. Emson, R. H. & Crump, R. G. (1979). Description of a new species of Asterina (Asteroidea), with an account of its ecology. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 59, 77–94.
11. Verrill, A. E. (1878). Notice of recent additions to the marine fauna of the eastern coast of North America, No. 2. The American Journal of Science and Arts, 3rd series, 16(91–96), 371–378.
12. Möbius, K. (1859). Neue seesterne des Hamburger und Kieler Museums. Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Naturwissemschaften, 4, 1–14.
13. Leipoldt, F. (1895). Asteroidea der „Vettor-Pissani-“ Expedition (1882–1885). Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, 59, 545–654.