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Ophidiasteridae
| Description | The Ophidiasteridae (Greek ophidia, Οφιδια, "of snakes", diminutive form) are a family of sea stars with about 30 genera. Occurring both in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, ophidiasterids are greatest in diversity in the Indo-Pacific. Many of the genera in this family exhibit brilliant colors and patterns, which sometimes can be attributed to aposematism and crypsis to protect themselves from predators. Some ophidiasterids possess remarkable powers of regeneration, enabling them to either reproduce asexually or to survive serious damage made by predators or forces of nature (an example for this is the genus Linckia). Some species belonging to Linckia, Ophidiaster and Phataria shed single arms that regenerate the disc and the remaining rays to form a complete individual. Some of these also reproduce asexually by parthenogenesis. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophidiasteridae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | genus (GBIF) family (PBDB) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Echinodermata : Asteroidea : Valvatida : Ophidiasteridae : Ophidiasteridae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Echinodermata : Asteroidea : Valvatida : Ophidiasteridae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Scientific Name | Ophidiasteridae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 5 (36%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 113 - 101 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | marine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vision | limited (based on Asteroidea) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | omnivore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reproduction | dispersal=water,planktonic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ontogeny | accretion,addition of parts (based on Echinodermata) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ecospace Comments | ECOSPACE CODE: 325. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | high Mg calcite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | A. E. Verrill. 1870. Notes on the Radiata in the Museum of Yale College, 3. On the geographical distribution of echinoderms of the Pacific Coast of America. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 1(2):323-351 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophidiasteridae |
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
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| Altairia ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 3 | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Certonardoa genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Chariaster ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Denebia ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 6 | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Linckia genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Nardoa genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Ophidiaster genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Sladenia ✝ genus | listed (PBDB) | 1 | 86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Ophidiasteridae armatus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ophidiasteridae hemprichi species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
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| 1870 | Ophidiasteridae Verrill p. 344 |
| 1966 | Ophidiasteridae Spencer and Wright p. 64 |
| 1987 | Ophidiasteridae Gale p. 125 |
| 1989 | Ophidiasteridae Blake p. 213 |
| 2011 | Ophidiasteridae Gale p. 59 |
| 2012 | Ophidiasteridae Mah and Blake p. 3 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
