Circeaster Koehler, 1909

Mah, Christopher L., 2006, Phylogeny and biogeography of the deep-sea goniasterid Circeaster (Echinodermata, Asteroidea, Goniasteridae) including descriptions of six new species, Zoosystema 28 (4), pp. 917-954 : 927

Genus Circeaster Koehler, 1909

Circeaster Koehler, 1909: 83 . — Halpern 1970a: 265. — Downey 1973: 47, 55, pl. 21A, B. — Clark & Downey 1992: 237. — Clark 1993: 250.

TYPE SPECIES. — Circeaster marcelli Koehler, 1909 .

DIAGNOSIS. — R/r> 2.5.Disk swollen, large.Abactinal arm plates two to three times larger than disk plates.Arm plates generally bare.Disk plates with granules,round,hemispherical.Marginal plates wide in most species.Spinelets or granules present along dorsolateral/ventrolateral edges and surfaces of marginal plates. Greater density of spinelets/granules on inferomarginals than on superomarginals. Superomarginal plates abutted over midline in several species.Arms elongate tapering, with tips upturned. Interradial arcs linear to curved.Actinal plates irregular in some species,covered with granules or spinelets. Pedicellariae uncommonly present. Adambulacral furrow spines 6-15. Enlarged subambulacral spine or spines present. Prominent, paddle-like, bivalve, or sunken pedicellariae with jagged teeth present.Pedicellariae present on adambulacral plates.

APOMORPHY LIST. — Nodes 22 to 21: 1.6, granules fine; 2.7, SM density moderately packed.