''Paulasterias tyleri'' is a species of

starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...

in the family

Paulasteriidae ''Paulasterias'' is a genus of sea star Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, o ...

. It is found in deep water at

hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

s in the Antarctic. It is the type species of the newly erected genus '' Paulasterias'', the only other member of the genus being ''

Paulasterias mcclaini ''Paulasterias mcclaini'' is a species of starfish in the family Paulasteriidae. It is found in deep water at hydrothermal vents. Taxonomy This species was collected by the marine biologist Craig McClain and first described by echinoderm speci ...

''.

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.

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, being clad with short spines.

Distribution

''Paulasterias tyleri'' is found at thermal vents in the

East Scotia Ridge The Scotia Plate () is a tectonic plate on the edge of the South Atlantic and Southern oceans. Thought to have formed during the early Eocene with the opening of the Drake Passage that separates South America from Antarctica, it is a minor pla ...

to the east of the southern tip of South America where the depth is about .

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 crab ''Kiwa tyleri'', the "Hoff crab", is a species of deep-sea squat lobster in the family Kiwaidae, which lives on hydrothermal vents near Antarctica. The crustacean was given its English nickname in 2010 by UK deep-sea scientists aboard the RRS '' ...

s 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 anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

s, and it is on these and on the goose barnacles that the starfish probably feed. Other members of the community surrounding the vents include

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended indep ...

s in the genus ''

Eclipidrilus ''Eclipidrilus'' is a genus of annelids belonging to the family Lumbriculidae. The species of this genus are found in Europe and Northern America. Species: *''Eclipidrilus asymmetricus'' *'' Eclipidrilus breviatriatus'' *''Eclipidrilus daneu ...

'' and sea spiders in the genus ''

Sericosura ''Sericosura'' is a genus of sea spiders in the family Ammotheidae. Species within this genus have been found living at depths from 106 to 3,690 meters below sea level. Species * '' Sericosura bamberi'' Arango & Linse, 2015 * '' Sericosura coc ...

''. However absent from these vents are the

giant tube worm ''Riftia pachyptila'', commonly known as the giant tube worm and less commonly known as the Giant beardworm, is a marine invertebrate in the phylum Annelida (formerly grouped in phylum Pogonophora and Vestimentifera) related to tube worms ...

s (''Riftia pachyptila'') which dominate other hydrothermal vents.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q41011592 Forcipulatacea Animals described in 2015