Ophiothamnidae, 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 : 21

Family Ophiothamnidae fam. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CD418837-0D1F-47AF-BF52-C7BC76C67EFC

Type genus

Ophiothamnus Lyman, 1869 (type species: O. vicarius Lyman, 1869 ).

Other genera

Histampica A.M. Clark, 1970 , Ophioleila A.H. Clark, 1949 .

Diagnosis

Dorsal disc with pointed spines ( Ophiothamnus ), naked scales ( Histampica ), or thorny spines ( Ophioleila ). Radial shields large. Infradental papillae small, distal lateral papilla at adoral shield edge widened in Ophiothamnus . Arm spine articulations with two smooth, slightly diverging ridges, not connected. Muscle and nerve openings separated by smooth bridge.