Parvulastra exigua (Lamarck, 1816)

Scientific name: Parvulastra exigua
  • Author(s)
    Jen Cork
  • Updated
    18/12/20
  • Read time
    2 minutes
J24331 Parvulastra exigua Click to enlarge image
J24331 Parvulastra exigua Image: Stephen Kebble
© Australian Museum

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Parvulastra
    Species
    exigua
  • Size Range
    Width 20mm

Identification:

Flattened pentagonal shape with five short arms (less than width of central disc), with obtusely rounded webbed divisions between each arm. Aboral surface colour variable, brown to blue-green, with patches of red.

Distribution:

Inshore temperate to subantarctic areas including Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, from Currumbin, Qld south to Tasmania and west to Spencer Gulf, SA; South Africa; Amsterdam and St Paul Islands. Littoral.

Distribution data sourced from the Atlas of Living Australia

Australian Museum registration database records for the Sydney region:

Pittwater (Towlers Bay); Long Reef; Manly (Fairy Bower; Shelley Beach); Port Jackson (Spit Bridge; Chowder Bay; Watsons Bay; Shell Cove; Shark Island; Fairlight); Coogee. Depth range 0-2 m.

Habitat:

Rock pools.

Taxonomic information - synonyms and type material:

Asterias exigua Lamarck, 1816: 554.
Type data: neotype TM H508.
Type locality: False Bay, South Africa.

Asterina krausii Gray, 1840: 289.
Type data: syntypes BMNH 1840 11.25.1, BMNH 1840.11.25.5.
Type locality: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

J24331 Parvulastra exigua

Parvulastra exigua

Image: R.T. Springthorpe
© Australian Museum

Links for further information:

Atlas of Living Australia

World Register of Marine Species

Additional references:

Clark (1946); Dartnall (1971); Rowe (1989); O’Loughlin & Waters (2004); Edgar (1997).