Ophiolycus Mortensen, 1933

Mcknight, Donald G., 2003, New brittle­stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from New Zealand waters, Zootaxa 352, pp. 1-36 : 5

Ophiolycus Mortensen, 1933

Remarks: In the original account of Ophiolycus, Mortensen (1933) used subgeneric status, but suggested “it should rather be made a separate genus, or at least a subgenus”; Fell (1960) gave it generic status, though Paterson (1985) regarded it as a subgenus.

The presence of disc scales, dorsal armplates, transformed distal armspines, and visible radial shields are here considered sufficient for generic status. Fell (1960) was in error in listing Ophiolycus inermis Mortensen as the type species since Ophioscolex dentatus Lyman, 1878 is the type species.