Cheiraster echinulatus

• Main Author: Mah, Christopher L.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2020
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Echinodermata; Asteroidea; Notomyotida; Benthopectinidae; Cheiraster; Cheiraster echinulatus; Perrier; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3803753; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AE8786FFB6D54BFF4024BEFD245A67

Cheiraster cf. echinulatus (Perrier, 1875) Figure 4C This species was observed partly buried with its superomarginal edge lying flush alongside the surface of the bottom sediment. Other species of benthopectinids have been observed during Okeanos Explorer cruises sitting out on open substrates (Mah, unpublished observations), making this the first to be seen buried in the sediment with its spines projecting upwards, suggesting that they are used for defense, perhaps while the animal feeds on underlying sediment or sediment-related prey. Image Observed Pourtales Terrace, Gulf of Mexico, 24.28439, -82.25347, 332 m. EX1803_IMG_20180502T192533Z_ROVHD.jpg Published as part of Mah, Christopher L., 2020, New species, occurrence records and observations of predation by deep-sea Asteroidea (Echinodermata) from the North Atlantic by NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer, pp. 201-260 in Zootaxa 4766 (2) on page 212, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4766.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3764018