''Pourtalesia'' is a genus of the family
Pourtalesiidae which belongs to the
irregular (
bilaterally symmetrical
Symmetry in biology refers to the symmetry observed in organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. External symmetry can be easily seen by just looking at an organism. For example, the face of a human being has a plane of symme ...
)
sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...
s. The animals measure 5–6 cm in length and live in the abyssal zone of the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
,
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
,
Indopacific
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 ...
and
Antarctic Oceans where they have been found in more than 3,000 m depth. The mouth opening of these animals is located anteriorly and the
lantern of Aristotle is missing as typically for
holasteroid sea urchins.
Species
Currently, 11 species of ''Pourtalesia'' are recognized.
* ''
Pourtalesia alcocki''
Koehler, 1914
* ''
Pourtalesia aurorae''
Koehler, 1926
* ''
Pourtalesia debilis''
Koehler, 1926
* ''
Pourtalesia heptneri''
Mironov, 1978
* ''
Pourtalesia hispida''
A. Agassiz, 1897
* ''
Pourtalesia jeffreysi''
Thomson Thomson may refer to:
Names
* Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin
* Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson
Businesses and organizations
* SGS-Thomson M ...
, 1873
* ''
Pourtalesia laguncula''
A. Agassiz, 1879
* ''
Pourtalesia miranda''
A. Agassiz, 1869
* ''
Pourtalesia tanneri''
A. Agassiz, 1898
* ''
Pourtalesia thomsoni''
Mironov, 1976
* ''
Pourtalesia vinogradovae''
Mironov, 1995
References
Holasteroida
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