Paulasterias tyleri

Paulasterias tyleri is a species of starfish in the family Paulasteriidae. It is found in deep water at hydrothermal vents in the Antarctic.[2] It is the type species of the newly erected genus Paulasterias, the only other member of the genus being Paulasterias mcclaini.

Paulasterias tyleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Echinodermata
Class:
Asteroidea
Superorder:
Forcipulatacea
Family:
Paulasteriidae
Genus:
Paulasterias
Species:
P. tyleri
Binomial name
Paulasterias tyleri
Mah et al., 2015[1]

History

Paulasterias tyleri was discovered during a deep sea research cruise organized by the National Oceanography Centre. It was the first starfish to be found living as part of a hydrothermal vent community and was not closely related to any known starfish species so that it was placed in a new family. Its nearest living relative lives in the Ross Sea on the other side of the Antarctic continent some two thousand miles away.[3]

Description

Paulasterias tyleri is a seven-armed starfish and is whitish or pale pink. It has a thick fleshy skin on the aboral (upper) surface, with spongy tissue underneath it. The skin is rough, bein clad with short spines.[4]

Distribution

Paulasterias tyleri is found at thermal vents in the East Scotia Ridge to the east of the southern tip of South America where the depth is about 2,500 m (8,200 ft).

Ecology

Starfish are unable to cope with the hot, sulphurous, toxic environment of the hydrothermal vent itself but they are present in the cooler, cleaner water nearby. Hoff crabs live adjacent to the hydrothermal vent chimneys, with gastropod molluscs and then goose barnacles occupying zones further out. Beyond this is an assemblage dominated by sea anemones, and it is on these and on the goose barnacles that the starfish probably feed.[5] Other members of the community surrounding the vents include limpets in the genus Eclipidrilus and sea spiders in the genus Sericosura. However absent from these vents are the giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila) which dominate other hydrothermal vents.[6]

gollark: Wait, oops, wrong channel.
gollark: Probably just n-grams.
gollark: I mean, it is arguably "gay" as same-polarity things attract, except there's only one polarity.
gollark: Meh.
gollark: Which I suppose is more bisexual. But whatever.

References
  1. Mah, Christopher (2018). "Paulasterias mcclaini Mah et al., 2015". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  2. Mah, Christopher (30 December 2015). "Two new species of sea stars! The first hydrothermal starfish Paulasterias!". The Echinoblog. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  3. "New starfish species found in Antarctica". SubSea World News. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  4. McClain, Craig (21 April 2015). "These are a few of my favorite species: Paulasterias mcclaini "McClain's 6-armed fleshy star"". Deep Sea News. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  5. Mah, Christopher (22 April 2015). "Five Important Facts about Paulasterias and the Paulasteriidae! NEW species! New genus! New Family!". The Echinoblog. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  6. Advances in Marine Biology. Elsevier Science. 2015. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-12-802355-6.
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