Forcipulatida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Forcipulatida | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Asterias rubens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Superorder: | Forcipulatacea |
| Order: | Forcipulatida |
| Families | |
|
See Text | |
The Forcipulatida are an order of sea stars, containing three families and 49 genera.
Forcipulatids share with the brisingid sea stars distinctive pedicellariae, consisting of a short stalk with three skeletal ossicles. Unlike that group, however, the forcipulatids tend to have more robust bodies.[1] The order includes some well-known species, such as the common starfish, Asterias rubens. This order can be commonly found from North Carolina in the United States all the way to Santos in Brazil.[2]
Phylogeny
The order is divided into three families:[3]
- Family Asteriidae — 39 genera
- Family Heliasteridae — two genera
- Family Zoroasteridae — eight genera
World Register of Marine Species gives another taxonomy, with 7 families and 64 genera:
- Family Asteriidae Gray, 1840
- Family Heliasteridae Viguier, 1878
- Family Pedicellasteridae Perrier, 1884
- Family Pycnopodiidae Fisher, 1928
- Family Stichasteridae Perrier, 1885
- Family Zoroasteridae Sladen, 1889
A 2020 study involving phylogenetic analysis and scanning electron microscopy of the skeleton and ossicles of taxa from the superorder Forcipulatacea recovered Asteriidae, Stichasteridae, Zoroasteridae, and Brisingida as monophyletic.[4]
The extinct family Terminasteridae has also been placed in this order.[5]
