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Order of sea stars From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Forcipulatida are an order of sea stars, containing three families and 49 genera.
Forcipulatida | |
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Asterias rubens | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Superorder: | Forcipulatacea |
Order: | Forcipulatida |
Families | |
See Text |
Forcipulatids share with the brisingid sea stars distinctive pedicellariae, consisting of a short stalk with three skeletal ossicles. Unlike that group, however, the forcipulatids tend to have more robust bodies.[1] The order includes some well-known species, such as the common starfish, Asterias rubens. This order can be commonly found from North Carolina in the United States all the way to Santos in Brazil.[2]
The order is divided into three families:[3]
World Register of Marine Species gives another taxonomy, with 7 families and 64 genera:
A 2020 study involving phylogenetic analysis and scanning electron microscopy of the skeleton and ossicles of taxa from the superorder Forcipulatacea recovered Asteriidae, Stichasteridae, Zoroasteridae, and Brisingida as monophyletic.[4]
The extinct family Terminasteridae has also been placed in this order.[5]
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