This starfish adds a second species to the genus Astrolirus. The seven-armed starfish earned its name, Astrolirus Patricki, due to its observed behavior with deep sea hexactinellid sponges, referencing to the 'close relationship' between SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star from the tv show, SpongeBob SquarePants.
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| Astrolirus Patricki | |
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Discovery
editThe starfish was first discovered at 1,458-2,125 meters deep near the Northwestern Pacific seamounts. The name itself was given by Zhang Ruiyan, a PhD student from the School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2019 under the direction of Wang Chunsheng, a researcher at the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics and a fellow faculty member at the same university. [1]
Ecology & Characteristics
editThe few individuals found were noticed on Hexactinellid sponges in the deep sea, commonly known as glass sponges. Seeing them inhabiting the sponges provokes a question about whether there is a close symbiotic relationship between the two, which requires further study. [2]
The genus Astrolirus consists of only two species at the moment, Patricki and Panamensis. This genus is distinguished from the others in the family Brisingidae due to the intercostal plates on its arms and a pair of marginal plates between the first adambulacral plates. [3][4]
In the order Brisingida but most commonly seen in the family Brisingidae, the organisms tend to have a central thick disc with 6 to 18 long arms with they use to filter feed or also known as suspension feeding. [5] Additional notorious characteristics of the order are the spool-like ambulacral column, single series of marginals, no actinal plates and crossed pedicellariae.[6]
The family Brisingidae is normally in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but at deep depths. Studies have been conducted to further understand the adaptive development of the order Brisingida that differentiates it from other in the class Asteroidea. Genetic studies of different species in the order were conducted through mitochondrial genome and concluded that mutation in specific genomes were key in that adaptation, which was descended to more species. [7]
Reproduction & Life Cycle
editAstrolirus is apart of the phylum Echinodermata suggesting they could follow the same process of reproduction to a certain extent. Echinoderms have sexual reproduction meaning they are gonochoric and they are oviparous organisms. [8]
References
edit- ^ "SOO PhD Student Named A New Marine Species Patrick Star-SCHOOL OF OCEANOGRAPHY". ioo.sjtu.edu.cn. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ "Peer Review #2 of "A new sponge-associated starfish, Astrolirus patricki sp. nov. (Asteroidea: Brisingida: Brisingidae), from the northwestern Pacific seamounts (v0.2)"". 2020-05-27. doi:10.7287/peerj.9071v0.2/reviews/2.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Astrolirus Fisher, 1917". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology. Vol. 20. London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. 1917.
- ^ "Asterozoa: Fossil groups: SciComms 05-06: Earth Sciences". web.archive.org. 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ Downey, M. E. (1986). "Revision of the Atlantic Brisingida (Echinodermata:Asteroidea), with description of a new genus and family". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (435): 1–57. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.435. ISSN 0081-0282.
- ^ Mu, Wendan; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Haibin (2018-11). "The first complete mitochondrial genome of the Mariana Trench Freyastera benthophila (Asteroidea: Brisingida: Brisingidae) allows insights into the deep-sea adaptive evolution of Brisingida". Ecology and Evolution. 8 (22): 10673–10686. doi:10.1002/ece3.4427. PMC 6262923. PMID 30519397.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: PMC format (link) - ^ "Brisingidae - Encyclopedia of Life". eol.org. Retrieved 2022-04-23.