Asterodiscides truncatus
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© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Asterodiscides
- Species
- truncatus
Identification:
The domed, pincushion-like shape, rounded tubercles on the aboral surface, large body size, and purple and orange colouration are distinctive.
Size range:
Width 100 mm.
Distribution:
Inshore, continental shelf and slope of temperate areas of Australia from Solitary Is., NSW, to off Eucla, Great Australian Bight WA, and Tasmania. Depth range 14-804 m.
Australian Museum registration database records for the Sydney region:
east of Broken Bay; 3.2 kms offshore between Long Reef & Dee Why; 40 kms east of Manly; east of Port Jackson; 4-6.4 km east of Botany Bay. Depth range 0 (possibly washed up after a storm)-804 m.
Habitat:
Reef, silt.
Taxonomic information - synonyms and type material:
Asterodiscus truncatus Coleman, 1911: 699, figs 123-125, pl.83.
Type data: syntypes AM J1053, AM J2047.
Type locality: off Botany Bay, NSW, and off east coast of VIC, (St Francis Is., SA, specimen apparently lost), east coast of VIC.
Remarks:
Readily found at ‘Jolong Reef’ approximately 700m north east of Cape Banks at ~20m depth, November 2008.
Links for further information:
ABRS Australian Faunal Directory
Additional references:
Clark (1946); Rowe (1977); Rowe (1985); Edgar (1997).
