Basket star

The Euryalida are an order of brittle stars,[1] which includes large species with either branching arms (called "basket stars") or long and curling arms (called "snake stars").

Basketstars
Astroboa nuda basket star feeding at night in the Red Sea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Ophiuroidea
Order: Phrynophiurida
Suborder: Euryalina
Lamarck, 1816
Families

Asteronychidae
Asteroschematidae
Gorgonocephalidae
Euryalidae

Characteristics

Many of the species in this order have characteristic repeatedly branched arms (a shape known as "basket stars", which includes most Gorgonocephalidae and two species in the family Euryalidae), while the other species have very long and curling arms, and go rather by the name of "snake stars" (mostly abyssal species). Many of them live in deep sea habitats or cold waters, though some basket stars can be seen at night in shallow tropical reefs. Most young basket stars live on specific type of coral.[2] In the wild they may live up to 35 years. They weigh up to 5 kilograms (11 lb). Like other echinoderms, basket stars lack blood and achieve gas exchange via their water vascular system.

The basket stars are the largest ophiuroids with Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni measuring up to 70 cm in arm length with a disk diameter of 14 cm.[3]

Systematics and phylogeny

The fossil record of this group is rather poor and only dates back to Carboniferous.[4] Basket stars are divided into the following families:

  • family Asteronychidae Ljungman, 1867 -- 4 genera (11 species)
  • family Euryalidae Gray, 1840, emended Okanishi et al., 2011 -- 11 genera (89 species)
  • family Gorgonocephalidae Ljungman, 1867 -- 34 genera (96 species)
    • sub-family Astrocloninae Okanishi & Fujita, 2018
    • sub-family Astrothamninae Okanishi & Fujita, 2013
    • sub-family Astrotominae Matsumoto, 1915
    • sub-family Gorgonocephalinae Döderlein, 1911


  • A basket star, located in an area known as "Star Wall", near Maori Bay, New Zealand at a depth of approximately 28 m.
    A basket star, located in an area known as "Star Wall", near Maori Bay, New Zealand at a depth of approximately 28 m.
  • Close-up of Astroboa nuda basket star arm
    Close-up of Astroboa nuda basket star arm
  • Basket star taken from the Atlantic Ocean
    Basket star taken from the Atlantic Ocean
  • An abyssal snake star curled around a cold-water coral.
    An abyssal snake star curled around a cold-water coral.
  • The genus Euryale is the only "basket star" not belonging to the Gorgonocephalidae (family Euryalidae).
    The genus Euryale is the only "basket star" not belonging to the Gorgonocephalidae (family Euryalidae).

References
  1. Smith, A.B.; Paterson, G.L.J. (1995). "Ophiuroid phylogeny and higher taxonomy: Morphological, molecular and palaeontological perspectives". Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 114 (2): 213–243. doi:10.1006/zjls.1995.0024.
  2. Neves, Bárbara de Moura; Wareham Hayes, Vonda; Herder, Erin; Hedges, Kevin; Grant, Cindy; Archambault, Philippe (2020). "Cold-Water Soft Corals (Cnidaria: Nephtheidae) as Habitat for Juvenile Basket Stars (Echinodermata: Gorgonocephalidae)". Frontiers in Marine Science. 7. doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.547896. ISSN 2296-7745.
  3. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Gale Cengage. 2003.
  4. Clarkson, E.; Clarkson, E.N.K. (1998). Invertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution (4 ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.


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