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

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.