Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) lepidus

Mills, V. Sadie & O'Hara, Timothy D., 2013, Ophiuroids (Echinodermata; Ophiuroidea) of biogenic habitats on the continental shelf of New Zealand, Zootaxa 3613 (5), pp. 401-444 : 433-435

Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) lepidus de Loriol, 1893

( Fig. 14 )

Ophiothrix lepidus de Loriol, 1893: 45 pl. 25(1).—Koehler, 1898: 103-104.—Rowe, 1989: 288.—McKnight, 1993a: 187.

Ophiothrix lepida .—Clark, H.L., 1915: 281.—Koehler, 1922: 246–248, pls. 36(5), 100(3).—Koehler, 1930: 143.—Clark, A.H., 1952a: 293.

Ophiothrix lepidus hawaiiensis Clark, A.H., 1949: 41 –42, fig. 15a–b.

Ophiogymna saltatrix McKnight, 1968: 522 –525, figs. 7, 8.—McKnight, 1975: 71 [synonymised by Rowe, 1989].

Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) lepidus .—Rowe & Gates, 1995: 424.

Material Examined. Far North. TAN1105/9, NIWA 72990 (5); NIWA 72990 (5). TAN1105/18, NIWA 73017 (1).

Diagnosis. Red disc covered in long thin articulated white spines. Thin, naked radial shields, meet distally, diverging and slight widening proximally. Radial shields white with short longitudinal purple stripe distally. Dorsal arm plates longer than wide with a conspicuous thick dark red stripe on midline. Ventral arm plates longer than wide with a thin faint red stripe along midline. Six very long (5–7 segments long), transparent, hollow, thorny arm spines.

Description. See McKnight (1968b) as Ophiogymna saltatrix .

Distribution. New Zealand (79–508 m), Tasman Sea (111–330 m), Indonesia (35–85 m), Philippines (62–90 m), Mauritius, Marshall Islands (122–168 m), Hawaii (as subspecies O. lepidus hawaiiensis A.H. Clark, 1949 , 110– 545 m).

Remarks. This species has previously been reported in the South-West Pacific Ocean from the Norfolk (Rowe 1989) and Kermadec Ridges (McKnight 1968 as Ophiogymna saltatrix ). Here we extend the known distribution to northern New Zealand. This species is similar to the littoral O. purpurea von Martens, 1867 differing only in the shape of the radial shield, which are much longer than wide in O. lepidus . However, the shape of the radial shields can be quite variable in O. purpurea , and H.L. Clark (1938) and Clark & Rowe (1971) have treated the two species as synonyms. Conversely, Rowe (1989) considered them as distinct and synonymised O. saltatrix with O. lepidus . The current specimens have the narrow radial shields indicative of O. lepidus . Whether the specimens found in deep-water off New Zealand are really conspecific with a species described from shallow water around Mauritius needs further investigation.

Figures

FIGURE 14. Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) lepidus de Loriol, 1893 (NIWA 72990, TAN 1105 / 9) showing preserved colour, a: whole animal, scale bar = 10 mm and close up views of a second specimen b: dorsal disc, c: ventral disc, scale bar = 5 mm.