Natural History Museum
Abstract. Sea stars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) are diverse members of marine benthic communities, and many species play crucial roles as keystone species in maintaining the ecological balance of various ecosystems. Globally, sea stars face multiple threats due to environmental changes driven by anthropogenic activities and, for some species, overharvesting, but information on their diversity is incomplete and our understanding of their phylogeny remains limited. Traditional taxonomic methods have relied predominantly on morphological characteristics, yet the application of molecular approaches has uncovered significant inconsistencies in the taxonomic classification of certain groups of asteroids such as Astropecten and Luidia. While several morphology-based studies have documented the Asteroidea fauna of Southeast Asia, their molecular diversity and phylogenetic relationships remain understudied. Our study addresses this gap by combining morphological examination with molecular phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene on sea star specimens collected from Singapore’s coastal waters. Our molecular findings support morphology-based identifications for 18 distinct sea star species out of the 22 collected in this study. Additionally, this study marks Pentaceraster mammillatus (Audouin, 1826), first observed here in 2008, as a new species record for this locality. While resolution of phylogenetic relationships among sea stars at the family and higher levels requires better gene sampling, this study represents a significant step towards advancing our understanding of sea star diversity in the Southeast Asian region.
Key words. COI, DNA barcoding, integrative taxonomy, marine biodiversity, phylogenetic analysis, Southeast Asia
Read article here: RBZ-2025-0024