Ophiophragmus papillatus Ziesenhenne, 1940

Granja-Fernandez, Rebeca, Herrero-Perezrul, Maria D., Lopez-Perez, Ramon A., Hernandez, Luis, Rodriguez-Zaragoza, Fabian A., Jones, Robert Wallace & Pineda-Lopez, Ruben, 2014, Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific, ZooKeys 406, pp. 101-145 : 107-108

Ophiophragmus papillatus Ziesenhenne, 1940 Figure 1 G–L

Description.

Disk rounded (dd = 1.7 to 2.7 mm). Disk covered with small and imbricated scales. There is a central primary plate surrounded by five separated smaller scales. There are a few blunt papillae in the center of the disk. The disk margin is composed of small and rounded papillae. Radial shields separated proximally by two large scales and distally in contact (Fig. 1J).Ventral side of the disk covered by imbricated and finer scales than those on the dorsal side (Fig. 1K). Oral shields diamond-shaped. Adoral shields meeting within. Three rounded oral papillae on each side of the jaw, apical papillae the largest and thickest. Four teeth (Fig. 1L). Dorsal arm plates rounded, wider than long (Fig. 1H). Ventral arm plates quadrangular with rounded margins, wider than long. Three blunt, thick and small arm spines; upper spine is the most robust. Two small tentacle scales perpendicular to each other (Fig. 1I). Dorsal side of the disk creamy-white. Dorsal arm plates brown with black spots, and with a creamy middle longitudinal line along the arms (Fig. 1G, H). Ventral side uniformly creamy-white (Fig. 1K).

Distribution.

Tangola Island, Tangola-Tangola Bay, Oaxaca, Mexico (Station 260-34) ( Ziesenhenne 1940). In this study, Ophiophragmus papillatus was collected on coral reefs from Guerrero and Oaxaca at a depth of 6.4 m.

Remarks.

The collection of Ophiophragmus papillatus in La Mina, Oaxaca and Palmitas, Guerrero is remarkable because the species had not been reported since its description by Ziesenhenne in 1940. This study reports a range extension of almost 410 km north of the type locality (Tangolunda, Mexico). We collected three organisms which perfectly match the original description provided by Ziesenhenne (1940). These specimens have a similar disk diameter to the holotype, which is 3.6 mm ( Ziesenhenne 1940); the specimen from Palmitas has a disk diameter of 2.7 mm, whereas the specimens from La Mina have disk diameters of 1.7 mm and 2.4 mm. The two smaller specimens presented the color pattern mentioned in the description but the brown color of the dorsal arm plates was less evident than in the largest specimen. Ophiophragmus papillatus was collected in rock and coral. Other members of the genus Ophiophragmus inhabit sand, soft mud, rock, seagrass, mangroves and reefs ( Nielsen 1932, Hendler et al. 1995). Ophiophragmus papillatus is a new record distribution for the state of Guerrero.

Collected material.

GUERRERO:Palmitas (1 specimen, rock, 6.4 m, 20/11/2011, ICML-UNAM 10448).

OAXACA:La Mina (2 specimens, coral, 19/02/2009, ICML-UNAM 10583).