Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 26, 2026

Holasteroida

Holasteroida is an order of irregular sea urchins.

Last revised
Jun 26, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
302 w
Citations
2
Source
Holasteroida
Temporal range:
Pourtalesia wandeli
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Subclass: Euechinoidea
Infraclass: Irregularia
Superorder: Atelostomata
Order: Holasteroida
Durham & Melville, 1957

Holasteroida is an order of irregular sea urchins.

Characteristics

Ceratophysa ceratopyga by A. Agassiz (1881) source ↗

These irregular sea urchins are characterized by a particularly marked bilateral symmetry, including for the apical system, which is highly elongated. In some contemporary abyssal groups such as Pourtalesiidae, some species are even bottle-shaped. The mouth (peristome) does not contain an Aristotle's lantern. The anus (periproct) has migrated towards the periphery of the test. The plastron is never amphisternous.1

This order seems to have appeared at the lower Cretaceous.1

List of families

According to World Register of Marine Species :

  • † Family Disasteridae Gras, 1848
    • genus † Disaster L. Agassiz, 1835
  • Family Hemipneustidae (Lambert, 1917)
    • genus Hemipneustes L. Agassiz, 1835
    • genus Medjesia Jeffery, 1997
    • genus Opisopneustes Gauthier, 1889
    • genus Plesiohemipneustes Smith & Wright, 2003
    • genus Toxopatagus Pomel, 1883
  • Suborder Meridosternata (Lovén, 1883)
    • Infraorder Cardiasterina
      • Family Cardiasteridae Lambert, 1917
      • Family Stegasteridae Lambert, 1917f
    • Family Echinocorythidae Wright, 1857
    • Family Holasteridae Pictet, 1857
      • Genus Salvaster Saucède, Dudicourt & Courville, 2012
    • Infraorder Urechinina
  • Family Pseudholasteridae (Smith & Jeffery, 2000)
    • genus Eoholaster Solovjev, 1989
    • genus Giraliaster Foster & Philip, 1978
    • genus Pseudholaster Pomel, 1883
    • genus Taphraster Pomel, 1883
  • Family Stenonasteridae (Lambert, 1922)
    • genus Stenonaster Lambert, 1922
References

References

  1. "Holasteroida". Echinoid Directory.