Brisinga

Brisinga is a genus of Starfish found off the north coast of Norway by Asbjornsen, and named by him after the breast ornament of the goddess Freya. It differed from all the living Starfish then known, by the possession of a central disc sharply marked off from the arms, while it has neither eyes, ampullae (i.e. the reservoirs which regulate the water supply to the tube feet), nor dermal branchiae (the processes from the upper side of the body which play so important a part in the respiration of most Starfish). In these points, and also in the arrangement of the reproductive organs, etc., it differs from the Starfish and agrees with the Brittle-Stars (q.v.). It was therefore regarded as intermediate between these two classes, and has been made by some authors the type of a special order. It was also regarded as a close ally of some extinct genera of the Palaeozoic (q.v.) era. Many forms referable to the family Brisingidae, of which this genus is the type, were found in the Challenger Expedition, and it is now agreed that Brisinga is a degraded rather than a primitive starfish.