The starfish Phataria unifascialis is widely distributed in the eastern cost of the Pacific Ocean, found on rocky bottoms, at depths between 0 and 50 m. The original description of P. unifascialis made by Gray in 1840 was brief and inaccurate in some important aspects, such as distribution area, plate arrangement and ambulacral spines. Here, we improve the description of P. unifascialis with SEM images and description of its mesodermal skeleton on the basis of a large sample. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65(Suppl. 1): S258-S271. Epub 2017 November 01.
Between 1978 and 1982 the ruins of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan were exhumed a few meters northward from the central plaza (Zócalo) of Mexico City. The temple was the center of the Mexica’s ritual life and one of the most famous ceremonial buildings of its time (15th and 16th centuries). More than 200 offerings have been recovered in the temple and surrounding buildings. We identified vestiges of 14 species of echinoderms (mostly as disarticulated plates). These include six species of sea stars (Luidia superba, Astropecten regalis, Astropecten duplicatus, Phataria unifascialis, Nidorellia armata, Pentaceraster cumingi), one ophiuroid species (Ophiothrix rudis), two species of sea urchins (Eucidaris thouarsii, Echinometra vanbrunti), four species of sand dollars (Mellita quinquiesperforata, Mellita notabilis, Encope laevis, Clypeaster speciosus) and one species of sea biscuit (Meoma ventricosa grandis). They date back to the reigns of kings Axayacatl (AD 1469-1481), Tizoc (AD 1481-1486), Ahuitzotl (AD 1486-1502), and Motecuhzoma II (AD 1502-1520). Apparently the presence of echinoderms in the offerings is related to the realm of Tlaloc (god of rain and earth). It is believed this organisms, like other marine animals, were used by the priests, like other marine animals, to represent the aquatic underworld of Mesoamerican world-view. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65(Suppl. 1): S168-S179. Epub 2017 November 01.
La posición geográfica de México lo hace uno de los países más biodiversos del planeta. El estudio de la diversidad de los equinodermos de México comenzó́ en el siglo XIX. En México se encuentran 818 especies de equinodermos, siendo la clase Ophiuroidea la más rica con 240 especies, Asteroidea contiene 229, Echinoidea 153, Holothuroidea 165 y Crinoidea 31. México posee algunas especies endémicas del país o de alguna región en particular. El catálogo de los equinodermos de México aún no está completo, probablemente existan nuevos registros y nuevas especies en ambientes y en regiones poco estudiados de las costas mexicanas. A pesar de que los estudios taxonómicos en México son extensos, los estudios sobre la ecología, historia de vida y otros aspectos de los equinodermos son escasos. Se presenta información sobre los estudios de biogeografía, bioquímicos y los nuevos descubrimientos arqueozoológicos del phylum.
Ophidiaster ludwigi had been reported only from Panama and Peru. Here we add record of the genus and species for Mexico and Costa Rica; and, first time its bathymetric distribution (0-156 m). Rev. Biol. Trop. 65(Suppl. 1): S253-S257. Epub 2017 November 01.
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