Ophiactis savignyi ( Müller & Troschel, 1842 ), Muller & Troschel, 1842

Stöhr, Sabine, Çinar, Melih Ertan & Dagli, Ertan, 2010, Brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the southern coast of Turkey (eastern Mediterranean): new records and revision of Amphiodia obtecta Mortensen, 1940, Zootaxa 2483, pp. 45-57 : 54

Ophiactis savignyi ( Müller & Troschel, 1842)

Material examined. ESFM-ECH/ 2005-13, 14.9.2005, Iskenderun Bay, K9, 0.1–3 m, on port’s pile, 5 specimens; ESFM-ECH/ 2005-14, 10.9.2005, Iskenderun Bay, G5, 25 m, muddy sand, 1 specimen.

Distribution. In the Mediterranean Sea, O. savignyi was first reported from the Israeli coast in 1953 and subsequently from the Lebanon coast in 1965 ( Galil 2006). A dense population of this species was found in association with the sponge Sarcotragus muscarum Schmidt, 1864 in Marmaris (south Aegean Sea) ( Çinar & Ergen 1998; Çinar et al. 2002). It was regarded as an invasive Lessepsian migrant that dramatically changes zoobenthic communities prevailing within sponges ( Çinar et al. 2002). The species has a tropicopolitan distribution, but Mladenov & Emson (1990) found large genetic diffferences between sponge- and algaedwelling populations, suggesting that O. savignyi may be a species complex.