- Basket star
Taxobox
name = Phrynophiurida
image_width = 240px
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Echinodermata
classis =Ophiuroidea
ordo =Phrynophiurida
subordo = Euryalina
subordo_authority = Lamarck, 1816
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision =Asteronychidae Asteroschematidae Gorgonocephalidae Euryalidae Basket stars are a group of
brittle star s. They are treated as a suborder Euryalina [ITIS|ID=157345|taxon=Euryalina] or order Euryalida [Smith, A.B.; Paterson, G.L.J. . Ophiuroid phylogeny and higher taxonomy: morphological, molecular and palaeontological perspectives. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 114 (1995)] . Many of them have characteristic many-branched arms. They generally live in deep sea habitats.The basket stars are the largest ophiuroids ("
Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni " can measure up to 70 cm in arm length with a disk diameter of 14 cm) [Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, vol 1, Gale Cengage 2003] .ystematics and phylogeny
An early
Mesozoic origin has been suggested for basket stars, based on a combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence [Smith, A.B.; Paterson, G.L.J. . Ophiuroid phylogeny and higher taxonomy: morphological, molecular and palaeontological perspectives. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 114 (1995)] . In spite of this, the fossil record of this group is rather poor and only dates back toCarboniferous [E.Clarkson, E. N.K. Clarkson, Invertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution. Wiley-Blackwell; 4.ed. (1998)] .Basket stars are divided into the following families:
*Asteronychidae
*Asteroschematidae
*Gorgonocephalidae
*Euryalidae References
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