''Linckia'' is a genus of
sea stars found mainly in the
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
region. They are known to be creatures with remarkable
regenerative abilities, and capable of defensive
autotomy
Autotomy (from the Greek language, Greek ''auto-'', "self-" and ''tome'', "severing", wikt:αὐτοτομία, αὐτοτομία) or self-amputation, is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards one or more of its own appendages, usual ...
against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is named after the German naturalist
Johann Heinrich Linck
Johann Heinrich Linck (the elder, 1674–1734) was a German pharmacist and naturalist. He was born in Leipzig and ran the family pharmacy known as "The Golden Lion". He wrote a treatise on sea stars, ''De stellis marinis liber singularis'' (1733). ...
(1674–1734).
Systematics
Five groups within ''Linckia'' have been clearly genetically differentiated - ''L. columbiae'', ''L. bouvieri'', two clades within ''L. guildingi'', and one clade with two subclades consisting of both ''L. laevigata'' and ''L. multifora''
.
[Williams, S.T., Species boundaries in the starfish genus Linckia. Marine Biology, Vol 136, No 1, p.137-148 (2000)]
A list of species of ''Linckia'':
*''
Linckia bouvieri''
Perrier, 1875 (=''Linckia formosa'')
*''
Linckia columbiae''
Gray, 1840 (=''Ophidiaster colombiae'', ''Phataria fascialis'')
* ''
Linckia gracilis''
Liao, 1985
*''
Linckia guildingi''
Gray, 1840 (=''Linckia diplax'', ''Linckia ehrenbergii'')
* ''
Linckia kuhli''
von Martens, 1866
*''
Linckia laevigata
''Linckia laevigata'' (sometimes called the "blue ''Linckia''" or blue star) is a species of sea star in the shallow waters of tropical Indo-Pacific.
Description and characteristics
The variation ("polymorphism", in this case, a "color morph" ...
''
( Linnaeus, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
) (=''Linckia miliaris'')
*''
Linckia multifora''
(Lamarck, 1816) (=''Linckia costae'', ''Linckia leachi'', ''Linckia typus'', ''Ophidiaster multiforis'')
*''
Linckia nodosa''
Perrier, 1875 (=''Calliophidiaster psicodelica'', ''Linckia bullisi'')
* ''
Linckia tyloplax''
H.L. Clark, 1914
Some sources also give :
*''
Linckia hypnicola''
*''
Linckia hystrix''
*''
Linckia purpurea''
*''
Linckia diplax''
Image:Guildings's sea star.jpg, '' Linckia guildingi''
Image:Linckia laevigata Tonga.jpg, ''Linckia laevigata
''Linckia laevigata'' (sometimes called the "blue ''Linckia''" or blue star) is a species of sea star in the shallow waters of tropical Indo-Pacific.
Description and characteristics
The variation ("polymorphism", in this case, a "color morph" ...
''
Image:Linckia multifora Réunion.jpg, '' Linckia multifora''
Image:Linckia nodosa.jpg, '' Linckia nodosa''
References
ITIS taxonomic information about ''Linckia''
(info from hard-copy book)
{{Asteroidea-stub