Meridiastra mortenseni | |
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Valvatida |
Family: | Asterinidae |
Genus: | Meridiastra |
Species: | M. mortenseni
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Binomial name | |
Meridiastra mortenseni
O'Loughlin, Waters & Roy, 2002
| |
Synonyms | |
Patiriella mortenseni |
Meridiastra mortenseni is a sea star of the family Asterinidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. [1] Described as Patiriella mortenseni in 2002, [2] it is named after T. Mortensen, who recorded it as distinct from Patiriella regularis, the New Zealand common cushion star, in 1925. [3] According to genetic evidence, P. mortenseni was moved from the Patiriella genus to Meridiastra in 2004. [4]
Reciprocal transplant experiments in Fiordland have shown it is less tolerant of hyposaline conditions than the sympatric (but distantly related) P. regularis. This is reflected in its distribution: it lives in deeper waters (at depths of roughly 10±3 m in Milford and Doubtful Sounds), below the low salinity layer. [5] In laboratory conditions, they die after 24-hour exposure to water with salinities below 25 ‰. [5]
Meridiastra mortenseni | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Valvatida |
Family: | Asterinidae |
Genus: | Meridiastra |
Species: | M. mortenseni
|
Binomial name | |
Meridiastra mortenseni
O'Loughlin, Waters & Roy, 2002
| |
Synonyms | |
Patiriella mortenseni |
Meridiastra mortenseni is a sea star of the family Asterinidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. [1] Described as Patiriella mortenseni in 2002, [2] it is named after T. Mortensen, who recorded it as distinct from Patiriella regularis, the New Zealand common cushion star, in 1925. [3] According to genetic evidence, P. mortenseni was moved from the Patiriella genus to Meridiastra in 2004. [4]
Reciprocal transplant experiments in Fiordland have shown it is less tolerant of hyposaline conditions than the sympatric (but distantly related) P. regularis. This is reflected in its distribution: it lives in deeper waters (at depths of roughly 10±3 m in Milford and Doubtful Sounds), below the low salinity layer. [5] In laboratory conditions, they die after 24-hour exposure to water with salinities below 25 ‰. [5]