Baliactis sp.

Taxonomy

Sea Star

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata Klein 1754
Class: Asteroidea de Blainville 1830
Order: Platyasterida Spencer 1951
Family: Palasteriscidae Gregory 1900
Genus: Baliactis
Species: Baliactis sp.

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Paleozoic
Period: Devonian
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Early
International Age: Emsian (early)

Stratigraphy

Hunsrück Slate Group
Kaub Formation
Eschenbach Member

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Diameter: 4,5 cm

Location

Eschenbach-Bocksberg Quarry
Bundenbach
Rhineland-Palatinate
Germany

• baliactis
• bundenbach
• devonian
• emsian
• tff-oilshale-ec1826

Comments

Could be either B. scutatus Lehmann, 1957, B. tuberatus Lehmann, 1957 or B. devonicus, Spencer, 1927.

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org.

Description by Südkamp 2017, p.125: "Baliactis has on the lowersurface the large oval madreporite at the edge of the disc. The mouth-angle plates are long and rather narrow. The evenly tapering arms consist on the dorsal surface of three series of plates (radials, adradials and marginals). At the base of the arms there is a pair of larger adradials that is continued by further adradials in a long series up to the tips of the arms. Besides them run a series of elongate marginals. The robust plates on the dorsal surface carry coarse pustules (name). The ambulacrals on the oral surface are in direct opposition and T-shaped. The adambulacrals are rather narrow, crescent-shaped, and bear small spines."

Name meaning: Balios = dappled.

 

References:
W.M. Lehmann (1957) Die Asterozoen in den Dachschiefern des rheinischen Unterdevons. Abhandlungen des Hessischen Landesamtes für Bodenforschung 21:1-160.
Südkamp, W. (2017): Life in the Devonian. Identification book Hunsrück Slate fossils. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. München 2017. ISBN978-3-89937-221-2.