Amphiura chiajei Forbes, 1843

Rodrigues, Clara F., Paterson, Gordon L. J., Cabrinovic, Andrew & Cunha, Marina R., 2011, Deep-sea ophiuroids (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Ophiurida) from the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic), Zootaxa 2754, pp. 1-26 : 14-15

Amphiura chiajei Forbes, 1843

Material examined. Mercator MV, TTR15, stn AT569, 1 ind. ( DBUA 001069.01), stn AT576, 15 inds. ( DBUA 001069.02), stn AT577, 2 inds. ( DBUA 001069.03); Kidd MV, TTR14, stn AT560, 1 ind. ( DBUA 001070.01).

Ecology and distribution. Amphiura chiajei has been recorded from the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, and from West Africa; it is usually a shelf species but has been recorded from a depth of 1200 m ( Paterson 1985). This species is reported as living buried in muddy sand, extending its arms above the surface of the sediments to feed on deposited material. In the Gulf of Cadiz it was collected from soft mud breccia in the crater of Mercator and Kidd mud volcanoes within its known bathymetric range ( Fig. 7 A).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Amphiuridae species in the Gulf of Cadiz. A: Amphiura grandisquama (full circles) and Amphiura chiajei (asterisks); B: Amphiura filiformis; C: Amphiura sp. A; D: Amphipholis squamata; E: Amphioplus hexabrachiatus; F: Amphilepis ingolfiana.