Starfish (Asteroidea, Echinodermata) from the Cretaceous of southern England (UK) and Western Australia, including a revision of the goniasterid genus Tomidaster Sladen, 1891

Authors

  • Andrew Scott Gale School of the Environment, Geography and Geological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3QL
  • Kenneth J. McNamara School of Earth and Oceans, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, W.A. 6009

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24425/agp.2026.158202

Keywords

Asteroids, Goniasteridae, Goniopectinidae, Cretaceous

Abstract

Two new asteroid species are described from the Santonian–Campanian Toolonga Calcilutite of Western Australia, the first Cretaceous starfish recorded from Australia. These are the goniasterid Tomidaster timothyi sp. nov. and the goniopectinid Chrispaulia australis sp. nov. The taxonomy of Tomidaster Sladen, 1891 is revised on the basis of material from southern England; it is concluded that Comptoniaster Breton, 1984 is a junior synonym. To date, species of Tomidaster are known from the UK, Belgium, France, Egypt, Australia, and the USA (Texas). Chrispaulia australis sp. nov. is a deposit-feeding mudstar and the first record of the genus from outside southern England.

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Published

2026-09-15

How to Cite

Gale, Andrew Scott, and Kenneth J. McNamara. “Starfish (Asteroidea, Echinodermata) from the Cretaceous of Southern England (UK) and Western Australia, Including a Revision of the Goniasterid Genus Tomidaster Sladen, 1891”. Acta Geologica Polonica, vol. 76, no. 3, Sept. 2026, p. e88, doi:10.24425/agp.2026.158202.

Issue

Vol. 76 No. 3 (2026)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Acta Geologica Polonica

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.