Porania pulvillus
Aboral and oral surfaces of P. pulvillus
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Valvatida
Family: Poraniidae
Genus: Porania
Species:
P. pulvillus
Binomial name
Porania pulvillus
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Asterias pulvillus O.F. Müller, 1776
  • Asteropsis pulvillus (O.F. Müller, 1776)
  • Porania gibbosa Leach in Gray, 1840
  • Goniaster templetoni Thomson, in Forbes, 1839
  • Asteropsis ctenacantha J. Müller & Troschel, 1842

Porania pulvillus, also called the red cushion star, is a species of sea star in the family Poraniidae.[4] The specific name pulvillus means "little cushion."[5]

Description

Porania pulvillus is up to 12 cm (4.7 in) in diameter. The aboral surface (top) is usually bright red but may be purple, orange or yellow. It has white/yellowish spots and bands that radiate from the centre, and smooth greasy skin.[6] The madreporite is in the centre.[7] P. pulvillus has translucent soft papillae that act as gills. The oral surface (underside) is pale. This sea star has five short, broad arms. Each arm has two rows of small ossicles on either side. It has no pedicellariae.[8]

Distribution

Found in the waters off Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, New England and Newfoundland.[8]

Environment

Porania pulvillus is sublittoral, typically living at 10–300 m (33–984 ft) depth, but some at up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).[2][8]

Behaviour

Porania pulvillus produces brachiolaria larvae in spring. It is gonochoristic.[8]

It feeds on detritus and the soft coral Alcyonium digitatum.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ "Porania pulvillus, Red cushion starfish". www.sealifebase.ca.
  2. 1 2 "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Porania (Porania) pulvillus (O.F. Müller, 1776)". www.marinespecies.org.
  3. ↑ "Porania (Porania) pulvillus pulvillus - (O.F. Müller, 1776)". eunis.eea.europa.eu.
  4. ↑ Collected Papers from Mote Marine Laboratory. The Laboratory.
  5. ↑ "Pulvillus". Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias.
  6. ↑ "Porania pulvillus - Marine Life Encyclopedia". www.habitas.org.uk.
  7. ↑ "description of Porania (Porania) pulvillus - Red cushion starfish". www.european-marine-life.org.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "MarLIN - The Marine Life Information Network - Red cushion star (Porania (Porania) pulvillus)". www.marlin.ac.uk.
  9. ↑ "Sea Star - Porania pulvillus". www.seawater.no.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Porania pulvillus.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.