How to translate text using browser tools
5 May 2021 Mithrodia clavigera (Lamarck, 1816) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea: Mithrodiidae) from the central Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico
Richard L. Turner, Bruce D. Graham, John E. Miller III
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

New records of the Indo-Pacific seastar Mithrodia clavigera (Lamarck, 1816) include the north-central Gulf of Mexico, southeastern Florida, and Ascension Island. Material includes in-situ photographs, specimens from our own field collections, and museum specimens. This species was previously reported in the Atlantic basin in the 1880s off Brazil and in the western Caribbean Sea in the late 1960s and early 1970s. More recent findings are attributable to the advent of SCUBA, seafloor photography, and genetic analysis. The presence of M. clavigera in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters probably represents a former connection with populations in the eastern Pacific Ocean before the rise of the Isthmus of Panama. Our observations here of specimens collected off Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico add to our understanding of this species' behavior and ecology.

Richard L. Turner, Bruce D. Graham, and John E. Miller III "Mithrodia clavigera (Lamarck, 1816) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea: Mithrodiidae) from the central Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico," Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 134(1), 8-26, (5 May 2021). https://doi.org/10.2988/20-00009
Published: 5 May 2021
JOURNAL ARTICLE
19 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Ascension Island
Florida
marine biogeography
seastar
Valvatida
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top