The pourtalesiids (Pourtalesiidae) are a family of irregular sea urchins that live in the deep sea. They are secondarily bilateral-symmetrical and like other representatives of the taxon Holasteroida they lack the lantern of Aristotle, which is typical for many other sea urchins. The genus Pourtalesia was named after Louis-François de Pourtalès who first collected these animals while dredging at a depth of 600 m. The family is known already from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and is distributed worldwide.[1]
| Pourtalesiidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pourtalesia miranda | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Echinoidea |
| Order: | Holasteroida |
| Family: | Pourtalesiidae Agassiz, 1881 |
Species and genera edit
Currently, there are 10 genera with 28 extant and 5 extinct species described.[2]
- genus Ceratophysa Pomel, 1883
- Ceratophysa ceratopyga (A. Agassiz, 1879)
- Ceratophysa rosea (A. Agassiz, 1879)
- genus Cystocrepis Mortensen, 1907
- Cystocrepis setigera (A. Agassiz, 1898)
- genus Echinocrepis A. Agassiz, 1879
- Echinocrepis cuneata A. Agassiz, 1879
- Echinocrepis rostrata Mironov, 1973
- genus Echinosigra Mortensen, 1907
- Echinosigra (Echinogutta) amphora Mironov, 1974
- Echinosigra (Echinogutta) antarctica Mironov, 1974
- Echinosigra (Echinogutta) fabrefacta Mironov, 1974
- Echinosigra (Echinogutta) valvaedentata Mironov, 1974
- Echinosigra (Echinosigra) mortensi Mironov, 1974
- Echinosigra (Echinosigra) phiale (Thomson, 1873)
- Echinosigra (Echinosigra) porrecta Mironov, 1974
- Echinosigra (Echinosigra) vityazi Mironov, 1997
- genus Galeaster Seunes, 1889 †
- Galeaster carinatus Ravn, 1927 †
- Galeaster dagestanensis Poslavskaya & Moskvin, 1960 †
- Galeaster minor Poslavskaya, in Moskvin & Poslavskaya, 1949 †
- Galeaster muntshiensis Tzaghareli, 1949 †
- Galeaster sumbaricus Poslavskaya, in Moskvin & Poslavskaya, 1949 †
- genus Helgocystis Mortensen, 1907
- Helgocystis carinata (A. Agassiz, 1879)
- genus Pourtalesia A. Agassiz, 1869
- Pourtalesia alcocki Koehler, 1914
- Pourtalesia aurorae Koehler, 1926
- Pourtalesia debilis Koehler, 1926
- Pourtalesia heptneri Mironov, 1978
- Pourtalesia hispida A. Agassiz, 1897
- Pourtalesia jeffreysi Thomson, 1873
- Pourtalesia laguncula A. Agassiz, 1879
- Pourtalesia miranda A. Agassiz, 1869
- Pourtalesia tanneri A. Agassiz, 1898
- Pourtalesia thomsoni Mironov, 1976
- Pourtalesia vinogradovae Mironov, 1995
- genus Rictocystis Mironov, 1996
- Rictocystis jensenae Mironov, 1996
- genus Solenocystis Mironov, 2008
- Solenocystis imitans Mironov, 2008
- genus Spatagocystis A. Agassiz, 1879