Hemipholis Lyman, 1865

Alitto, Renata A. S., Bueno, Maristela L., Guilherme, Pablo D. B., Domenico, Maikon Di, Christensen, Ana Beardsley & Borges, Michela, 2018, Shallow-water brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from Araçá Bay (Southeastern Brazil), with spatial distribution considerations, Zootaxa 4405 (1), pp. 1-66 : 46

Genus Hemipholis Lyman, 1865

Type taxon. Hemipholis cordifera ( Bosc, 1802) , originally described as Asterias cordifera .

Diagnosis. Disc regularly covered with scales dorsally and naked ventrally, with soft interradial recesses. Absence of bursae. Radial shields partially joined. One lateral oral papilla. Adoral shields all in contact, forming a continuous ring around the mouth. One tentacle scale. Three pointed arm spines ( Lyman 1865; Fell 1960; Tommasi 1970; Albuquerque 1986).

Comments. Hemipholis shares features with Ophiactis , such as a ring of contiguous adoral shields and the presence of hemoglobin containing coelomocytes in its water vascular system ( Christensen et al. 2008), suggesting a close systematic relationship between both genera ( Hendler 2011). Hemipholis is well-studied and has repeatedly been cited in ecological, environmental, and biological studies owing to its abundance, broad geographic range, and its remarkable morphological and physiological specializations ( Hendler et al. 1995; Hendler 2011). Currently, two species are accepted in Hemipholis ( Stöhr et al. 2016) , with one recorded from Brazil ( Barboza & Borges 2012): Hemipholis cordifera ( Bosc, 1802) .