Calliaster Gray 1840

Mah, Christopher L., Kogure, Yoichi, Fujita, Toshihiko & Higashiji, Takuo, 2024, New Taxa and Occurrences of Mesophotic and Deep-sea Goniasteridae (Valvatida, Asteroidea) from Okinawa and adjacent regions, Zootaxa 5403 (1), pp. 1-41 : 3

Calliaster Gray 1840 (Calliaster “group”)

Mah 2018: 17 (full synonymy)

Diagnosis

A highly variable goniasterid group whose primary characters include the presence of one to several enlarged subambulacral spines present in transverse series, enlarged conical pointed spines present on abactinal, marginal and actinal plates. Abactinal, marginal and actinal plate surfaces bare and smooth. Marginal plates form a prominent abactinal border in most genera but this varies among species (and see taxonomic notes below). Body stellate to strongly stellate with known occurrence only in the Indo-Pacific.

Comments

A full summary of the taxonomic status of Calliaster and related genera was outlined by Mah (2018, 2022). Species in this genus are variable and boundaries between species concepts is difficult. Unpublished specimen records indicate that there are likely many more species than are known.