SEA- STARS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



By I. E. Gray,' Maureen E. Downey, ^ and M. J. Cerame-Vivas^ 



ABSTRACT 



Descriptions, keys to identification, and photographs 

 are given for the 22 genera and 33 species of North 

 Carolina asteroids. Tlie starfish fauna is predominantly 

 "southern." Eighteen species are distributed from 

 North Carolina southward, nine range from North 

 Carolina northward, and six occur both north and 

 south of North Carolina. The affinities of the various 



species to the principal marine biotic provinces are 

 discussed. Thirteen tropical and subtropical species 

 occur only in an extension of the Caribbean Province 

 along the outer shelf. Only four of the 33 species on the 

 Continental Shelf can be considered abundant: Astro- 

 pecten articulatus, Luidia clathrata, Astropecten 

 americanus, and Asterias forbesii. 



Although isolated records exist, no previous at- 

 tempt appears to haA-e been made to bring together 

 a list, with workable keys for their identification, 

 of the asteroids that occur in North Carolina 

 watere. Only the inshore, shallow-water species 

 are well known. Pearse and Williams (1951) in 

 their study of reefs off Xew River Inlet added two 

 species new to North Carolina records and 

 Cerame- Vivas and Gray (1966) listed six others. 

 Sampling has been extensive in recent years; at 

 least 33 asteroids are now known from the North 

 Carolina Continental Shelf, and probably many 

 additional species occur in deeper waters off the 

 shelf. The need for identification sources for star- 

 fishes in this area has become acute Ijecause of the 

 marked increase of interest in marine biology, the 

 expansion of opportunity for oceanographic 

 training, and the greater frequency of research 

 cruises and offshore collecting by univei-sity classes 

 in marine ecology and invertebrate zoology. 



The present discussion is limited to the Aster- 

 oidea of the Continental Shelf; deep-sea species, 

 even though in the latitude of North Carolina, are 

 not included. The 200-m. contour, near the edge 

 of the shelf, makes a convenient seaward boundary 



1 Professor Emeritus. Duke University. Beaufort, N.C. 28516. 



- Museum Specialist, Division of Echinoderms, Smithsonian 

 Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560. 



3 Director, Department of Marine Sciences, University of 

 Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, P.K. 00708, 



Published August 1968. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 67, NO. 1 



of the area under consideration. Depth increases 

 rapidly on the slope, and sj^ecies of the continu- 

 ously cold waters of the slope and beyond live in 

 a different environment and more properly belong 

 to the deep-sea benthos. 



METHODS 

 SAMPLING PROCEDURES 



Other than the fact that all starfishes are marine 

 no single environmental condition is common to 

 all species. Asteroids differ in habits, habitats, 

 depths of water at which they occur, and in toler- 

 ance to adverse conditions. Consequently, no one 

 sampling technique is adequate for all species. 

 Hand-picking from jetties and the use of light 

 dredges operated from small craft are satisfactory 

 for collecting some sf^ecies. Heavy gear is essential 

 for dredging in deeper waters and on rocky ledges. 



Especially useful to us, because they cut into the 

 substrate, were the heavy Cerame-Vivas rock 

 dredge ( locally known as the C-V dredge) and the 

 Cape Town dredge (also known as the Day dredge, 

 because it was introduced by John Day of the 

 University of Cape Town ) . The frame of the C-V 

 dredge (Cerame-Vivas and Gray, 1966) was 

 fashioned from scrap metal and, with lead shoes 

 added, weighed over 200 kg. The leading edge con- 

 sisted of a bulldozer blade estimated to cut into a 

 substrate of hai'd-packed sand a minimum of 12 



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