Ophiura (Ophiura) Lamarck, 1816

Mcknight, Donald G., 2003, New brittle­stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from New Zealand waters, Zootaxa 352, pp. 1-36 : 23

Ophiura (Ophiura) Lamarck, 1816

Remarks: Within the genus Ophiura there is a group of species with a secondary arm comb, relatively numerous disc scales, sometimes also with small disc spines, elongate and separated radial shields, dorsal armplates in contact for much of the arm, but ventral armplates separated from near the base. Within this group are four species with large disc scales: O. albida (Forbes) , O. imprudens (Koehler) , O. robusta Koehler and O. quadrispina H.L. Clark ; and five with small, more numerous disc scales: O. aequalis Lyman , O. bathybia H.L. Clark , O. leptoctenia H.L. Clark , O. ljungmani Lyman and O. sarsi Lutken.

These species differ from those assigned to Dictenophiura in having radial shields separated throughout their length and more numerous disc scales, usually with the primaries little enlarged and are referred to Ophiura (Ophiura) pending revision of this unwieldy genus.