Amphiophiura convexa ( Lyman, 1878 )

Madeira, Patrícia, Kroh, Andreas, Cordeiro, Ricardo, De, António M., Martins, Frias & Ávila, Sérgio P., 2019, The Echinoderm Fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic Ocean), Zootaxa 4639 (1), pp. 1-231 : 47-48

Amphiophiura convexa ( Lyman, 1878)

Reports for the Azores:

Ophioglypha convexa ( Lyman, 1878) — $ Koehler 1909: 149–150, pl. 25, figs. 1–2;

Amphiophiura convexa ( Lyman, 1878) — Mortensen 1927a: 231; $ Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972: 408; Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 81, fig. 2D;

Ophiura convexa ( Lyman, 1878) — Grieg 1932: 32;

Amphiophiura bullata convexa ( Lyman, 1878) — Paterson 1985: 132–133, fig. 51; García-Diez et al. 2005: 49; Smirnov et al. 2014: 201.

Type locality: E of Japan, Pacific .

See: Lyman (1878: 84, pl. 3, figs. 83–84, as Ophioglypha convexa ); Paterson (1985).

Occurrence: cosmopolitan, in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; in the west Atlantic from Labrador basin to off New England ( Paterson 1985) and in the East Atlantic, from Reykjanes Ridge south to the Bay of Biscay ( Martynov & Litvinova 2008), Azores, Canaries ( Koehler 1909) and?Madeira ( Jesus & Abreu 1998); also reported from Vema Fracture zone, off Central African coast (24°02’S 14°41’W; Lyman 1882) and Demerara Abyssal Plain, off northern South America ( Paterson 1985).

Depth: 1,950 –6,810 m ( Smirnov et al. 2014); AZO: 3,665 –4,261 m ( Koehler 1909, Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972).

Habitat: soft bottoms (ooze; Koehler 1909).

Remarks: Koehler (1909, 1914a) remarked on the variability present in Amphiophiura convexa (= Ophioglypha convexa ), which in certain aspects of its morphology resembles A. bullata ( Thomson, 1877) . Paterson (1985) based on the variability of the dorsal plating of the disc, assumed A. convexa to be a subspecies of A. bullata . Martynov & Litvinova (2008) disagreed and maintained the specific status, a view followed herein.

Jesus & Abreu (1998) reported an ‘ Amphiophiura cf. bullata convexa ’ from Madeira shallow waters, between 20 and 100 m. In the North Atlantic, the genus Amphiophiura includes strictly deep-water species that tend to live well below 1,000 m ( Paterson 1985; Smirnov 2014). In light of this, we doubt that the material reported by Jesus & Abreu (1998) belongs to A. convexa or even the genus Amphiophiura .