Patiriella mortenseni

Taxobox
name = "Patiriella mortenseni"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Echinodermata
classis = Asteroidea
ordo = Spinulosida
familia = Asterinidae
genus = "Patiriella"
species = "P. mortenseni"
binomial = "Patiriella mortenseni"
binomial_authority = O'Loughlin, Waters & Roy, 2002

"Patiriella mortenseni" is a sea star of the family Asterinidae endemic to New Zealand. Discovered as a new species in 2002, [O'Loughlin, P.M., Waters, J.M., Roy, M.S., 2002. Description of a new species of "Patiriella" from New Zealand, and review of "Patiriella regularis" (Echinodermata, Asteroidea) based on morphological and molecular data. "Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand" 32, 697–711.] it is named after T. Mortenson, who recorded it as distinct from "Patiriella regularis", the New Zealand common cushion star, in 1925. [Mortensen, T. 1925: Echinoderms of New Zealand and the Auckland-Campbell Islands. III-V. Asteroidea, Holothurioidea, Crinoidea. "Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i København" 79. Pp. 261–420.]

Reciprocal transplant experiments in Fiordland have shown it is less tolerant of hyposaline conditions than close relative "Patiriella 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 (LSL). In laboratory conditions they die after 24 hour exposure to water with salinities below 25‰.cite journal
last=Barker
first=M.F.
coauthors=M.P. Russell.
year=2008
title=The distribution and behaviour of Patiriella mortenseni and P. regularis in the extreme hyposaline conditions of the southern New Zealand fiords
journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
volume=355
pages=76–84

doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2007.12.001
accessdate= 2008-03-16 ]

References