Fromia elegans

Fromia elegans, common name little red star, is a species of marine starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.

Fromia elegans
Possible Fromia elegans (Nouvelle-Calédonie)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Echinodermata
Class:
Asteroidea
Order:
Valvatida
Family:
Goniasteridae
Genus:
Fromia
Species:
F. elegans
Binomial name
Fromia elegans
H.L. Clark, 1921

Distribution

This sea star has been spotted at latitudes from -27.5 to 26.6 and longitudes from 32.7 to 159.6.[1]

Habitat

The animal is found at depths from 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) down to 55 metres (180 ft), in 23.980 °C (75.164 °F) to 28.954 °C (84.117 °F) water.[1]

Systematics

In 1921, H. L. Clark described this species of sea star as Fromia elegans.[2] In 1938, Engel collected specimens he believed to be F. elegans. Hayashi studied Engel's collection, and finding them to be the same species as Fromia indica, considered the names to be synonyms. In 1971, A. M. Clark believed there were enough differences between some specimens that they should be separate species, and that Engel's 1938 specimens may have been F. indica mistaken for F. elegans.[3][4] Marsh doubted this in 1977, though she didn't have evidence. Engel's description is now considered a synonym,[5] and informally a forma,[6][3] of Fromia indica, while H. L. Clark's description, the subject of this article, is accepted as a full species.[7]

References
  1. "Fromia elegans". iobis.org. Ocean Biogeographic Information System. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  2. Clark, Hubert Lyman (1921). The echinoderm fauna of Torres Strait: its composition and its origin. X. Washington, D. C.: The Carnegie Institute of Washington. pp. 41, 42.
  3. Clark, Ailsa McGown (24 February 1967). "Notes on Asteroids in the British Museum (Natural History) V. Nardoa and Some Other Ophidiasterids". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Zoology. 15. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). pp. 169, 188–189. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  4. Clark, A. M.; Rowe, F. W. E. (1971). "Monograph of shallow-water Indo-West Pacific echinoderms: i-vii, 1-238, pls 1-31" (PDF). abctaxa.be. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). pp. 62–63.
  5. Mah, Christopher (24 December 2008). "WoRMS taxon details: Fromia elegans Engel, 1938". marinespecies.org. World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  6. "Fromia indica f. elegans". iobis.org. Ocean Biogeographic Information System. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  7. Mah, Christopher (24 October 2008). "WoRMS taxon details: Fromia elegans H.L. Clark, 1921". marinespecies.org. World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Retrieved 7 August 2014.
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