Culcita schmideliana (Bruzelius, 1805)

Amjad, Farah, Ahusan, Mohamed, Amir, Hana, de Villiers, Nina M, Gress, Erika, Mah, Christopher L, Naeem, Shafiya, Rico-Seijo, Nuria, Samaai, Toufiek, Afzal, Maryiam S, Woodall, Lucy C & Stefanoudis, Paris V, 2024, An underwater imagery identification guide for shallow, mesophotic and deep-sea benthos in Maldives, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 120128-e 120128 : e120128-

Culcita schmideliana (Bruzelius, 1805)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Culcita schmideliana ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Echinodermata; class: Asteroidea; order: Valvatida ; family: Oreasteridae ; genus: Culcita ; scientificNameAuthorship: (Bruzelius, 1805); Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Maldives; locality: North Male’, Vaavu ; minimumDepthInMeters: 2; maximumDepthInMeters: 5; locationRemarks: Nekton Maldives Mission; Identification: identifiedBy: Farah Amjad, Paris Stefanoudis, Christopher Mah; dateIdentified: 2022, 2023; identificationRemarks: Identified only from imagery; Event: samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR Snorkel; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Five short arms with a large central disc. Body shape pentagonal with a heavily inflated appearance. Pentagonal-shaped with minimal concaves on edge. Inflated body with compact arms and a large central disc. Spinelets evident. Approximately 20 cm in the longest dimension. Colouration appears blotchy with dark and light grey tones (Fig. 255 ).

Figures

Figure 255. Culcita schmideliana, Vaavu, 2 m.