Solaster Forbes 1839

Mah, Christopher L., 2024, Two New Taxa of Goniasteridae (Asteroidea, Echinodermata) and Noteworthy Observations of Deep-Sea Asteroidea by the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in the North and Tropical Atlantic, Zootaxa 5432 (4), pp. 461-508 : 498

Solaster Forbes 1839

Forbes, 1839: 120; Gray 1840: 183; Danielssen & Koren 1882: 50; Sladen 1889: 452; Perrier 1894: 151; Acloque 1900: 256; Fisher 1911: 306; Hayashi 1939: 297; 1940: 174; Djakonov 1950: 65; Bernasconi 1964: 258, 1970: 249; Clark & Downey 1992: 301.

Diagnosis

Arms 7 to 17. Abactinal skeleton composed of close-set cruciform or rounded plates (paxillae also referred to as pseudopaxillae) with non-penicillate spinelets. Papular pores single. Marginal plates paxillate in some species, disproportionately sized small superomarginals similar in stature to abactinal paxillae, inferomarginals, prominent, 3X to 4X larger than abactinal paxillae, evenly spaced along arm length. Actinal plates spinose with multifid tips. Subambulacral spines forming distinct transverse fans. Furrow spines palmate, unwebbed. Based on Mah (2023b).

Comments

Solaster is widely occurring, contains 23 species known primarily from cold to temperate water settings, notably those at high latitudes. Solaster species present in tropical and subtropical regions (e.g. Solaster tropicus Fisher 1913 ) occur almost entirely in deep-sea settings with some present at considerable depths (1000 to 2900 m). Although full ecological data on all species is incomplete, available observations and gut content data indicate known Solaster are predators, primarily on other echinoderms, notably sea cucumbers, ophiuroids, and sea stars (Jangoux 1982). Character differences among Atlantic Solaster spp. summarized in Clark and Downey (1992) are at times, problematic and revision is desirable.