Pourtalesiidae

The pourtalesiids (Pourtalesiidae) are a family of irregular sea urchins that live in the deep sea. They are secondarily bilateral-symmetrical and like other representatives of the taxon Holasteroida they lack the lantern of Aristotle, which is typical for many other sea urchins. The genus Pourtalesia was named after Louis-François de Pourtalès who first collected these animals while dredging at a depth of 600 m. The family is known already from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and is distributed worldwide.

Species and genera
Currently, there are 10 genera with 28 extant and 5 extinct species described.


 * genus Ceratophysa Pomel, 1883
 * Ceratophysa ceratopyga (A. Agassiz, 1879)
 * Ceratophysa rosea (A. Agassiz, 1879)
 * genus Cystocrepis Mortensen, 1907
 * Cystocrepis setigera (A. Agassiz, 1898)
 * genus Echinocrepis A. Agassiz, 1879
 * Echinocrepis cuneata A. Agassiz, 1879
 * Echinocrepis rostrata Mironov, 1973
 * genus Echinosigra Mortensen, 1907
 * Echinosigra (Echinogutta) amphora Mironov, 1974
 * Echinosigra (Echinogutta) antarctica Mironov, 1974
 * Echinosigra (Echinogutta) fabrefacta Mironov, 1974
 * Echinosigra (Echinogutta) valvaedentata Mironov, 1974
 * Echinosigra (Echinosigra) mortensi Mironov, 1974
 * Echinosigra (Echinosigra) phiale (Thomson, 1873)
 * Echinosigra (Echinosigra) porrecta Mironov, 1974
 * Echinosigra (Echinosigra) vityazi Mironov, 1997
 * genus Galeaster Seunes, 1889 †
 * Galeaster carinatus Ravn, 1927 †
 * Galeaster dagestanensis Poslavskaya & Moskvin, 1960 †
 * Galeaster minor Poslavskaya, in Moskvin & Poslavskaya, 1949 †
 * Galeaster muntshiensis Tzaghareli, 1949 †
 * Galeaster sumbaricus Poslavskaya, in Moskvin & Poslavskaya, 1949 †
 * genus Helgocystis Mortensen, 1907
 * Helgocystis carinata (A. Agassiz, 1879)
 * genus Pourtalesia A. Agassiz, 1869
 * Pourtalesia alcocki Koehler, 1914
 * Pourtalesia aurorae Koehler, 1926
 * Pourtalesia debilis Koehler, 1926
 * Pourtalesia heptneri Mironov, 1978
 * Pourtalesia hispida A. Agassiz, 1897
 * Pourtalesia jeffreysi Thomson, 1873
 * Pourtalesia laguncula A. Agassiz, 1879
 * Pourtalesia miranda A. Agassiz, 1869
 * Pourtalesia tanneri A. Agassiz, 1898
 * Pourtalesia thomsoni Mironov, 1976
 * Pourtalesia vinogradovae Mironov, 1995
 * genus Rictocystis Mironov, 1996
 * Rictocystis jensenae Mironov, 1996
 * genus Solenocystis Mironov, 2008
 * Solenocystis imitans Mironov, 2008
 * genus Spatagocystis A. Agassiz, 1879
 * Spatagocystis challengeri A. Agassiz, 1879