The Echinoid Directory

• Test ovate with slight anterior sulcus; depressed in profile with flat base and low, moderately sharp, low ambitus.
• Apical disc ethmolytic, with 4 gonopores set close together; genital plate 2 projects to the posterior of the posterior oculars.
• Anterior ambulacrum weakly sunken adapically; pore-pairs small, simple isopores.
• Other ambulacra petaloid and flush. Anterior paired petals bowed with adapical pore-pairs in anterior column of anterior petals rudimentary; remainder large and conjugate; Posterior petals bowed to lanceolate, pore-piar columns converging distally.
• Periproct on short truncate face.
• Peristome wider than long; kidney-shaped.
• Labral plate narrow and elongate; only just contacting sternal plates; extending to third ambulacral plate.
• Paired sternal plates triangular apparently fully tuberculate.
• Anterior basicoronal interambulacral plates swollen to form nodes.
• Aboral tuberculation heterogenous with scattered coarse tubercles in anterior and lateral interambulacra. Primary tubercles sunken; best developed towards ambitus.
• On oral surface lateral tubercles arranged in distinct rows, with slightly sunken areoles.
• Presence of fascioles impossible to tell (specimen too abraided).

Oligocene, Kef Iroud, Algeria.

Tuberaster tuberculatus Peron & Gauthier, 1885, p. 46 [= Hemipatagus gauthieri Lambert, in Lambert & Thiery, 1921, p. 457], non Hemipatagus tuberculatus Zittel, 1864, by original designation.

• Only the type species.

Spatangoida, Micrasterina, Loveniidae.

Monotypic; subjective junior synonym of Hemipatagus Desor, 1858

Peron & Gauthier speculated about what fascioles might be present, but in fact, the only specimens they had were badly abraided and had lost all details of tuberculation.

Cotteau, G., Peron & Gauthier, T. 1885. Echinides fossiles de l'Algerie. Tome III. Terrains Tertiaires, Etage Eocene. G. Masson, Paris.