''Linckia'' is a genus of
sea star
Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...
s 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 ''auto-'', "self-" and ''tome'', "severing", αὐτοτομία) or 'self-amputation', is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards an appendage, usually as a self-defense mechanism to elude a predator's grasp ...
against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is named after the German naturalist
Johann Heinrich Linck (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
''Linckia'' is a genus of sea stars found mainly in the Indo-Pacific region. They are known to be creatures with remarkable regenerative abilities, and capable of defensive autotomy against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is name ...
''
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
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 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'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...
) (=''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'' is a genus of sea stars found mainly in the Indo-Pacific region. They are known to be creatures with remarkable regenerative abilities, and capable of defensive autotomy against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is name ...
''
*''
Linckia hystrix
''Linckia'' is a genus of sea stars found mainly in the Indo-Pacific region. They are known to be creatures with remarkable regenerative abilities, and capable of defensive autotomy against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is name ...
''
*''
Linckia purpurea
''Linckia'' is a genus of sea stars found mainly in the Indo-Pacific region. They are known to be creatures with remarkable regenerative abilities, and capable of defensive autotomy against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is name ...
''
*''
Linckia diplax
''Linckia'' is a genus of sea stars found mainly in the Indo-Pacific region. They are known to be creatures with remarkable regenerative abilities, and capable of defensive autotomy against predators. They reproduce asexually.
The genus is name ...
''
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)
Taxa named by Giovanni Domenico Nardo
{{Asteroidea-stub