Pourtalesiidae


The pourtalesiids 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 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
  • * Ceratophysa rosea
  • genus Cystocrepis Mortensen, 1907
  • *Cystocrepis setigera
  • 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
  • * 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
  • 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