The Forcipulatida are an order of sea stars, containing three families and 49 genera.
Description
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]
World Register of Marine Species gives another taxonomy, with 7 families and 64 genera:
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]
See also
References
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^ Barnes, Robert D. (1982). Invertebrate Zoology. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. p. 948. ISBN 0-03-056747-5.
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^ Pazoto, C. P., Ventura, C., Duarte, M., & Silva, E. (2018). Genetic variation and population homogeneity of the sea star Coscinasterias tenuispina (Forcipulatida: ASTEROIDEA) on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 46(2), 355-363. doi:10.3856/vol46-issue2-fulltext-11
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^ McKnight, D.G. (2006). Marine Fauna of New Zealand: Echinodermata: Asteroidea (sea-stars). 3. Orders Velatida, Spinulosida, Forcipulatida, Brisingida with addenda to Paxillosida, Valvatida. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 120: 1-187.
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^ Fau, Marine; Villier, Loïc (2020). "Comparative anatomy and phylogeny of the Forcipulatacea (Echinodermata: Asteroidea): insights from ossicle morphology". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 189 (3): 921–952. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz127.
