Family VIII. Staurosphærida, Haeckel (Pl. 15).
Staurosphærida, Haeckel, 1881, Prodromus, p. 449.
Definition.—Sphæroidea with four radial spines on the surface of the spherical shell, forming a regular cross, being opposite in pairs in two axes perpendicular to one another; living solitary (not associated in colonies).
The family Staurosphærida is distinguished from the other Sphæroidea by the possession of four radial spines, which are opposite in pairs in two perpendicularly crossed axes. By these "two main axes" an equatorial plane is determined, which approximates them to the Discoidea. But in the latter the shells as well as the central capsule become more or less flattened, lenticular, or discoidal, whilst in the former they remain spherical. However, some forms of both groups are very similar, and inspection from different sides (and mainly from the margin of the equatorial plane) is required to determine the spherical (not compressed) shell-form of the Staurosphærida. As a rule the species of this family are much rarer, and much less numerous, than those of all the other Sphæroidea.
The most simple Staurosphærida are the Staurostylida, with one single spherical lattice-shell. To this ancestral group all other subfamilies can be opposed as "Staurosphærida concentrica," since their carapace is composed of two or more concentric lattice-shells; two in the Staurolonchida, three in the Stauracontida, four in the Staurocromyida, five or more in the Staurocaryida. In all these four subfamilies the concentric shells are simple (not spongy) fenestrated spheres. In a sixth subfamily, in the Staurodorida, the shell is wholly or partially composed of irregular spongy wickerwork, with or without a medullary shell in the centre.
The Four Radial Spines in all Staurosphærida are normally opposed in pairs in two axes perpendicular one to another, and therefore together form a rectangular cross. But in many species besides this normal form individual abnormalities occur, in which the four spines in the equatorial plane are not quite accurately opposed, so that the four angles between them are not right angles, but more or less unequal. More rarely also their position in the equatorial plane is not accurately retained, so that they are placed in two, three, or four different meridian planes, intersecting at very small variable angles.
In the greater part of Staurosphærida all four radial spines are quite equal, and of the same size and form. But in some genera there takes place a more or less considerable differentiation of the four spines, commonly in pairs, so that the two opposite spines of each pair are equal, but the pairs different (Staurostylus, Staurolonchidium). More rarely also both spines of one pair become unequal, whilst those of the other pair remain equal (Stauroxiphos). Very rarely all four spines assume a different size or form.
