Ophiacantha aristata Koehler 1896

Rodrigues, Clara F., Paterson, Gordon L. J., Cabrinovic, Andrew & Cunha, Marina R., 2011, Deep-sea ophiuroids (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Ophiurida) from the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic), Zootaxa 2754, pp. 1-26 : 7

Ophiacantha aristata Koehler 1896

( Fig. 2 )

Material examined. Captain Arutyunov MV, MSM01-03, stn 195, 1 ind. ( DBUA 001063.01).

Ecology and distribution. This is a bathyal North Atlantic species (822–1700 m) known from SW Ireland south to the Canary Islands ( Paterson 1985). In the Gulf of Cadiz it was collected from a coral thicket ( Dendrophylia cf. alternata , mostly dead branches with a few living polyps) at a single station at the flanks of Captain Arutyunov MV (1390 m) together with Ophiopristis gadensis sp. nov., Ophiactis abyssicola and Amphioplus hexabrachiatus .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Ophiacantha aristata. A: ventral aspect; B: dorsal aspect; C: disk spinelets; D: arm ventrally; E: arm dorsally.