Ophiobyrsidae Matsumoto, 1915

Stöhr, Sabine, Hugall, Andrew F., Thuy, Ben & Martynov, Alexander, 2018, Morphological diagnoses of higher taxa in Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) in support of a new classification, European Journal of Taxonomy 416, pp. 1-35 : 12

Family Ophiobyrsidae Matsumoto, 1915 stat. nov. (raised to family-rank)

Type genus

Ophiobyrsa Lyman, 1878a (type species: O. rudis Lyman, 1878a ).

Other genera

Ophiobyrsella Verrill, 1899b , Ophiosmilax Matsumoto, 1915 , Ophiophrixus H.L. Clark, 1911 .

Diagnosis

Disc and arms covered by thickened skin bearing pointed spines, large radial shields. Vertebrae with hourglass-shaped articulation. Multiple columns of spiniform teeth on round, knob-like sockets, not perforating the dental plate. Ventral tooth cluster. Spine articulation asymmetrical with large, swollen dorsal lobe and small,indistinct ventral lobe. No sigmoidal fold. Lateral arm plates without ornamentation.

Remarks

New molecular data indicates that the genera Ophiobyrsa , Ophiophrixus and Ophiosmilax form a clade that is sister to all remaining ophiacanthid families. Consequently, the former subfamily Ophiobyrsinae Matsumoto, 1915 is raised to family-level rank.