Sea daisy

Sea daisies have been discovered in three localities, including deep-sea habitats off New Zealand, the Bahamas and most recently from the northern central Pacific. They have been collected primarily from sunken, deep-sea (1000+ meters) wood. Although known from only a handful of specimens initially, many specimens have now been collected from the Bahamas. ==Classification==

Since they were discovered in 1986, their position within the echinoderms has been debated. At first they were placed in a new class, Concentricycloidea, since it was unclear whether they might have affinities with asteroids or ophiuroids. The former view gained acceptance, and since 2006, they are currently considered a sister group to the Infraclass Neoasteroidea, which represents all post-Paleozoic asteroids within the Class Asteroidea. Class Asteroidea, Infraclass Concentricycloidea, Order Peripoda (or Peripodida), Family Xyloplacidae • Genus Xyloplax • Xyloplax janetae • Xyloplax medusiformis • Xyloplax turnerae ==References==