The 20 - legged Antarctic strawberry feather champion , Promachocrinus fragarius , is one of four new - to - science species draw in a paper that explore the cryptic diversity of a genus of free - swimming stemlesscrinoids . Looking a little like a boldness hugger that fix a leggy upgrade , these exotic - alike organisms are related to starfish , sea cucumbers , and other echinoderm .
Antarctic feather stars strike under the genusPromachocrinusand were once think to represent a unmarried , circum - Antarctic speciesPromachocrinus kerguelensis . However , new research has expose there are , in fact , several species of these freaky little feather star flailing their path through some of the sea ’s chilliest maritime surroundings . Now , using DNA analyses and taking a close look at the complex geomorphology of specimen collected between 2008 and 2017 , researchers have discovered a surprising degree of diversity .
There were additional seven species identified among the feather stars study , impart the entire number for the genus from one up to eight , and four of these had never been name before . Of the new - to - skill species , a particularly fruity example of the peculiar crinoids is the Antarctic hemangioma simplex feather star , Promachocrinus fragarius .
The Antarctic strawberry sea star is the star in this story of cryptic diversity.Image courtesy of Gregory Rouse
Fragariais a small genus of bloom plants in the rose family , Rosaceae , that will be more intimate to you as strawberry plant for their juicy fruit . The hemangioma simplex feathering star might not partake their carmine - ruby colouration , but the researchers establish its consistence to be strawberry mark - same enough in human body to inspire its species name .
All species sequenced – bar one , P. wattsorum – demonstrated a spacious range when it came to depth , sitting between 100 to 1,000 metre ( 328 to 3,280 groundwork ) below the surface . While liberal - swimming crinoids are mostly consider to be sedentary , seldom - moving brute , they can take to the H2O in search of food .
A swimming crinoid is rightfully a survey to lay eyes on . They move through the water by flail their many arms in a rhythmical and mesmerizing way . An interesting find here is that this raw study identifying the morphologic differences in crinoid sample distribution revealed that a long - have premiss they all had 20 arm is incorrect , as there were in fact some feather stars with only 10 limb .
In these case , differences between species were fairly easy to blot work from morphology alone , but other species were genuinely cryptic , ask molecular analyses to accomplish their scooby - doo reveal .
“ Monitoring biodiversity call for robust designation of taxa and this can be very complicated when taxa are truly kabbalistic , ” explicate the authors . “ This bailiwick suggests that some species in Promachocrinus can be determined on the basis of morphology , however the ambiguity among some species suggests that sequencing ( minimally COI ) should remain the principal creature , if species - grade resolving power is required . ”
The study is publish inInvertebrate Systematics .
