Culcita Agassiz 1836

Mah, Christopher L., 2023, A new species of Astrosarkus from Western Australia including new Mesophotic occurrences of Indian Ocean Oreasteridae (Valvatida, Asteroidea), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 82, pp. 143-165 : 150

Culcita Agassiz 1836

Diagnosis. Adults large with massive pentagonal, strongly arched body and confluent arms. Abactinal-lateral and actinolateral edges round, producing a nearly circular appearance. Marginal plate limits and body surface concealed by thickened, granule-invested dermis. Pore areas well developed but irregular to confluent. Actinal granules, granule-invested dermis dense, obscuring limits of the plates. Modified from Marsh and Fromont (2020).

Small individuals of Culcita are more flattened and pentagonal and appear more “goniasterid-like” ( Kano et al., 1991).

Comments. Culcita includes three accepted species, C. novaeguineae , C. coriacea and C. schmideliana , known from Indo-Pacific, Red Sea and Indian Ocean habitats respectively.