Pentametrocrinus atlanticus (Perrier, 1883a)

Reports for the Azores:

Eudiocrinus atlanticus Perrier, 1883 a— $ Koehler 1909: 271–274, pl. 32, figs. 15–18;

Pentametrocrinus atlanticus (Perrier, 1883a) — $ A.H. Clark & A.M. Clark 1967: 790–794; $ Messing 1978: 699–708, figs. 1–18; A.M. Clark 1980: 203–204; Messing & Dearborn 1990: 26, fig. 6; García-Diez et al. 2005: 46;

Type locality: North of Spain (44°01’20”N, 7°04’45”W) .

See: Perrier (1883a); Koehler (1909); Messing (1978).

Occurrence: North Atlantic; in the western Atlantic reported from Florida and the Caribbean islands (Messing 1978); in the eastern Atlantic recorded from the Porcupine Bank (SW of Ireland) and from the Bay of Biscay south to Western Sahara, including the Azores and Canaries (A.H. Clark & A.M. Clark 1967; A.M. Clark 1980).

Depth: 374– 2,115 m (Messing & Dearborn 1990); AZO: 1,165 m (Koehler 1909).

Habitat: soft substrates, fine sand to mud (A.H. Clark & A.M. Clark 1967); it can be found together with sponges, alcyonarians and azooxanthellate colonial scleractinians (Messing & Dearborn 1990).

Remarks: Koehler (1909) reported a single specimen belonging to Pentametrocrinus atlanticus (= Eudiocrinus atlanticus) among the material collected in the Azores by Princesse Alice (sta 578: 38°26’00”N, 26°30’45”W, 1,165 m). Later, A.H. Clark & A.M. Clark (1967) and Messing (1978) re-examined the animal from the Azores and confirmed the historical identification by Koehler. It is possible that the crinoid observed by Pérès (1992) during a dive by the bathyscaphe Archimède west of Santa Maria at 700 m depth, and described by the author as ‘crinoid of Leptometra type’ may have been this species (see remarks above under Leptometra celtica).