Ophiernidae, O'Hara, Stöhr, Hugall, Thuy & Martynov, 2018

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 : 17

Family Ophiernidae fam. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4FF0D5F3-DF26-4CA0-A6FD-F4C6B6696C1A

Type genus

Ophiernus Lyman, 1878a (type species: O. vallincola Lyman, 1878a ).

Diagnosis

Lateral arm plates without vertical striations, but with horizontally striated proximal band (under adjacent plate). Bristle-shaped accessory arm spines. Narrow, broad, imperforate tooth sockets with flat borders. Vertebrae with radiating rib-like structures on distal muscle flanges. Lateral arm plates with several rib-like spurs on external proximal/internal distal band (where adjacent plates overlap). Arm spine articulations with weak lobes.