User:Nicksvm/Astrolirus Patricki

This starfish adds a second species to the genus Astrolirus. The seven-armed starfish earned its name, Astrolirus Patricki, due to its observed behavior with deep sea hexactinellid sponges, referencing to the 'close relationship' between SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star from the tv show, SpongeBob SquarePants.

Discovery
The starfish was first discovered at 1,458-2,125 meters deep near the Northwestern Pacific seamounts. The name itself was given by Zhang Ruiyan, a PhD student from the School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2019 under the direction of Wang Chunsheng, a researcher at the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics and a fellow faculty member at the same university.

Ecology & Characteristics
The few individuals found were noticed on Hexactinellid sponges in the deep sea, commonly known as glass sponges. Seeing them inhabiting the sponges provokes a question about whether there is a close symbiotic relationship between the two, which requires further study.

The genus Astrolirus consists of only two species at the moment, Patricki and Panamensis. This genus is distinguished from the others in the family Brisingidae due to the intercostal plates on its arms and a pair of marginal plates between the first adambulacral plates.

In the order Brisingida but most commonly seen in the family Brisingidae, the organisms tend to have a central thick disc with 6 to 18 long arms with they use to filter feed or also known as suspension feeding. Additional notorious characteristics of the order are the spool-like ambulacral column, single series of marginals, no actinal plates and crossed pedicellariae.

The family Brisingidae is normally in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but at deep depths. Studies have been conducted to further understand the adaptive development of the order Brisingida that differentiates it from other in the class Asteroidea. Genetic studies of different species in the order were conducted through mitochondrial genome and concluded that mutation in specific genomes were key in that adaptation, which was descended to more species.

Reproduction & Life Cycle
Astrolirus is apart of the phylum Echinodermata suggesting they could follow the same process of reproduction to a certain extent. Echinoderms have sexual reproduction meaning they are gonochoric and they are oviparous organisms.