Zool. [mod.L. (Gray, 1831), f. Gr. στῦλ-ος column + ἀστήρ star.] A genus of hydrozoa, closely related to the Millepora; a species or an animal of this genus, or of the family Stylasteridæ, of which it is the type. Hence Stylasteracean, Stylasterid, an animal of the family Stylasteridæ.
1831. J. E. Gray (title), Description of a new genus (Stylaster) of Star-bearing Corals.
1872. Dana, Corals (1875), 48. There are a number of genera in this Stylaster family, the Stylasteridæ.
1875. H. N. Moseley, in Phil. Trans., CLXVI. 115. I examined a specimen of a Stylasteracean dredged by the ‘Challenger’ … with the same result. Ibid. (1879), Notes Nat. ‘Challenger,’ 530. In the case of another Stylasterid, Allopora nobilis, the development of regular systems of polyps is commenced.
1882. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., VI. 277. The coloured Stylasters of the deep sea.
