Caymanostellidae Belyaev, 1974

Shen, Zihui, Koch, Nicolás Mongiardino, Seid, Charlotte A., Tilic, Ekin & Rouse, Greg W., 2024, Three New Species of Deep-Sea Wood-Associated Sea Stars (Asteroidea: Caymanostellidae) from the Eastern Pacific, Zootaxa 5536 (3), pp. 351-388 : 361

Caymanostellidae Belyaev, 1974

Type genus. Caymanostella Belyaev, 1974

Diagnosis (emended). Body pentagonal to stellate in outline. Abactinal side slightly convex. Abactinal plates imbricate, polygonal to oval or circular shaped. Superomarginal plates located on the abactinal side. Inferomarginal plates rectangular to bar-shaped, delimiting body margin, and either similar in size or larger than superomarginal plates. Actinal plates absent. Two rows of tube feet. Adambulacral plates bar shaped, extending between ambulacral and inferomarginal plates. Five interradial chambers, each containing one pair of gonads, visible through a thin membrane on the actinal side. One pair of gonopores per interradius, associated with the two proximal-most superomarginal plates.

Remarks. The diagnosis of Caymanostellidae is emended from Rowe (1989) to accommodate the new species described in this work, in addition to C. laguardai from the Gulf of Mexico. Characters described are shared among adult specimens. Also, the terms actinal and abactinal are used instead of oral and aboral, consistent with current practice. Rowe (1989) noted some shared characters between Caymanostellidae and the Lower Jurassic taxa Protremaster , which is currently placed in Asterinidae .