The Echinoid Directory

Contributed by Jenna Sullivan, May 2007

Gregoryaster expansa (Forbes, 1846, p. 160)

[= Brissus expansus Forbes, 1846, p. 160, pl. 19, fig. 7
= Paraster expansus (Forbes); Smith & Jeffery, 2000, p. 338.]

Diagnostic Features	Sharp, parallel-sided (but not keeled) frontal groove extends from apex to mouth. Broad, smoothly rounded apical surface with no keel between apex and periproct. Anterior petals about 1.5 times longer than posterior petals. (Smith & Jeffery, 2000, p. 338)
Distribution	Maastrichtian Trigonoarca beds of the Ariyalooor Group of southern India.
Type	Holotype: NHM E78534.
Classification and/or Status	Species of Gregoryaster.
Remarks	The holotype shows traces of a very thin lateroanal fasciole just behind the inflexion of the peripetalous fasciole behind the paired ambulacral petals. It is best classified as a Gregoryaster. Forbes, E. 1846. Report on the Fossil Invertebrata from Southern India, collected by Mr. Kaye and Mr. Cunliffe. Transactions of the Geological Society, London, (2)7: 160. Smith, A. B. & Jeffery, C. H. 2000. Maastrichtian and Palaeocene Echinoids: A key to world faunas. Special Papers in Palaeontology 63, 1-404.