Distinguishing features
Comasterids are distinguished from all other featherstar families by having terminal segments of the oral pinnules modified to form a comb. Comasterids a also have a distinctive "feel" due to well developed hooks on most pinnules that cause them to cling like velcro.
The genus is easily distinguished from other comasterids when a dead specimen can be examined under a microscope but differentiating between the species is problematical as the taxonomy needs revision. In the field, Comatella species can be recognised by having up to 40 arms, a good ring of cirri on a stout centrodorsal, and sometimes by their colour pattern.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution and habitat preferences
Comatella species are usually entwined within coral branches. In deeper soft-bottom habitats, individuals are necessarily exposed and cling to algae.
Web resources
References
- Clark, A.M. and F.W.E. Rowe (1971). Monograph of shallow-water Indo-west Pacific echinoderms British Museum (Natural History), London.
- Messing, C.G., D.L. Meyer, U.E. Siebeck, L.S. Jermiin, D.I. Vaney and G.W. Rouse (2006). A modern soft-bottom, shallow-water crinoid fauna (Echinodermata) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Coral Reefs, 25: 164-168. LIRS catalog number 956.
- Rowe, F.W.E., A.K. Hoggett, R.A. Birtles and L.L. Vail (1986). Revision of some comasterid general from Australia (Echinodermata: Crinoidea), with descriptions of two new genera and nine new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 86: 197-277. LIRS catalog number 198.