Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Subphylum: Eleutherozoa
Superclassis: Asterozoa
Classis: Asteroidea
Ordo: Forcipulatida
Familia: Asteriidae
Genus: Sclerasterias
Species: S. contorta - S. heteropaes - S. tanneri
Sclerasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Adult individuals have five arms but small, immature individuals have six. This led to the giving of a separate generic name to the juveniles, Hydrasterias, before it was realised that only one genus was involved.[2] These young individuals often undergo fissiparity. The disc splits into two parts, each bearing three arms, and new arms develop on each part to complete the complement of arms. This sometimes happens repeatedly and may be an adaptation to life in cold, deep seas where most of the species are found.[2]
Species
The following species are accepted by the World Register of Marine Species:[1]
Sclerasterias alexandri (Ludwig, 1905)
Sclerasterias contorta (Perrier, 1881)
Sclerasterias dubia (H. L. Clark, 1909)
Sclerasterias eructans (McKnight, 2006)
Sclerasterias euplecta (Fisher, 1906)
Sclerasterias eustyla (Sladen, 1889)
Sclerasterias guernei Perrier, 1891
Sclerasterias heteropaes Fisher, 1924
Sclerasterias mazophora (Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891)
Sclerasterias mollis (Hutton, 1872)
Sclerasterias neglecta (Perrier, 1891)
Sclerasterias parvulus (Perrier, 1891)
Sclerasterias richardi (Perrier, 1882)
Sclerasterias satsumana Doderlein, 1902
Sclerasterias tanneri (Verrill, 1880)
References
Sclerasterias World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
Fisher, W. K. (1925-03-01). "Asexual Reproduction in the Starfish, Sclerasterias" (PDF). Biological Bulletin. 48 (3): 171–175. doi:10.2307/1536659. ISSN 0006-3185. JSTOR 1536659. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
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