Ophiactis abyssicola (M. Sars, 1861)

(Fig. 6)

Material examined. Captain Arutyunov MV, MSM01-03, stn 195, 3 inds. (DBUA 001064.01).

Ecology and distribution. This is an Atlantic species known from a wide bathymetric range (125–4721 m) from Norway to southern Africa (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) in a single station at the flanks of Captain Arutyunov MV (1390 m) together with Ophiopristis gadensis sp. nov., Ophiacantha aristata and Amphioplus hexabrachiatus .