Ophiothela venusta ( de Loriol, 1900 )

Fatemi, Yaser & Stöhr, Sabine, 2019, Annotated species list of Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, with new records, Zootaxa 4711 (1), pp. 77-106 : 92

Ophiothela venusta ( de Loriol, 1900)

Figs 8 G–K, 9

Ophiocnemis venusta Loriol, 1900: 81 pl. 8, figs 2, 3.

Ophiothela venusta — Clark & Rowe 1971: 117 .

Material examined: Persian Gulf, Iran, Bustaneh, intertidal, on gorgonians ( Subergorgia suberosa (Pallas, 1766)) , hand collected, May 2018, collector Yaser Fatemi, 32 spms, 2.8–6.5 mm dd [SMNH-178937].

Habitat: Associated with gorgonians on subtidal sand, grass bed and artificial structures (e.g. shipwrecks), probably always epizoic, intertidal and 1–32 m ( Price 1981, 1983; Jones 1986; Peyghan et al. 2018; present study) ( Fig. 2B ).

Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman: Bushehr (2), Jubail (19), Ras Tanura (24), Tarut Bay (25), Manifa (29), Kuwait (ibid.).

Indian Ocean: East Africa, Madagascar and East India ( Clark & Rowe 1971), South Africa ( Clark 1974), Madagascar ( Cherbonnier & Guille 1978), Seychelles ( Clark 1980).

Remarks: The variable morphology of this species was treated in detail by Cherbonnier & Guille (1978) and by Peyghan et al. (2018). Specimens with regenerating arms and pentamerous body symmetry are here assigned to O. venusta ( Fig. 8 G–K) but may belong to the unidentified species of Ophiothela or to O. danae . The disc granules vary in size, with some individuals having uniformly small granules, others presenting larger granules in the disc center and in the interradii ( Fig. 9 H–J).

Records of O. venusta from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by Sadhukan & Raghunathan (2011) were based on a misidentified Ophiocoma sp., probably O. scolopendrina (likewise their Dougaloplus echinatus is Ophiocoma sp.).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Habitats at the sites where brittle stars were collected by the present study (see Table 1). A, Bandar Lengeh, B, Bustaneh, C, Chabahar Bay (Hotel Lipar), D, Chabahar Bay (University coast), E, Chabahar Bay (Tis), F, Qeshm Island.

FIGURE 8. Live photos of hexamerous fissiparous Ophiothela sp. [SMNH-178936] (A–E), Persian Gulf, Iran, Bustaneh, A, specimen with half disc and three small regenerating arms, three larger arms of different sizes may indicate several previous splits, dorsal view, B, another recently split individual with three new arms, and three older ones, dorsal view, C, same as B, ventral view, D, hexamerous individual with three smaller and three larger arms, disc almost fully regenerated, dorsal view, E, same as E, ventral view, Ophiothela venusta, same locality, with regenerating arms (F–K), F, individual with arms of different sizes, dorsal view, G, specimen with two narrower and three wider arms, separated by one and two wider arms, dorsal view, H, same as G, ventral view, I, individual with two regenerating arms adjacent to each other, dorsal view, J, same as I, ventral view, K, individual with one large arm, one intermediate and three small arms, dorsal view, Ophiothela danae, New Caledonia, Lifou Island, dorsal view.

FIGURE 9. Live photos of Ophiothela venusta [SMNH-178937], Persian Gulf, Iran, Bustaneh. A, dorsal view, dark red star pattern on disc center, grey radii and arms, dark red arm spines, bright red bands with dark borders on distal arms, B, same as A, ventral view, mostly dark red on disc and arms, C, dark red patch on dorsal disc center, pink-orange granules on disc and arms, bright red bands on middle and distal arms, D, white star-like pattern with dark brown borders on dorsal disc center, bright red arms, dark spines, faint darker bands on distal arms (small inset photo shows same in ethanol, all red has faded to light brownbeige), E, uniformly dark red individual, F, dark and light purple pattern on disc with some cream and arms banded along full length, G, Dark red dorsal disc with thin white line and white patches, arm bases light pink on top, dark red laterally, H, same as G, in alcohol, colors have faded to purple, higher granules on disc center and in interradii, I, arm base and disc edge, showing clusters of high granules, J, same animal as in Fig. 7F, in ethanol, showing variable granule size and color change.