Brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the continental shelf off Angola and Namibia
Glück, Franziska U.
Stöhr, Sabine
Bochert, Ralf
Zettler, Michael L.
Zootaxa
2012
3475
1
20
Lyman, 1869
Lyman
1869
[151,511,655,681]
Ophiuroidea
Ophiactidae
Ophiactis
Animalia
Ophiurida
9
10
Echinodermata
species
plana
Material examined.St. 88: dredge sampling, 7°14.088´S, 12°41.010´E; 1 specimen, 2 mm. Depth: 41 m.This species appeared just once and was the only individual at this station.
Diagnosis. Ophiactis planais easily distinguished from Ophiactis luetkeniby the presence of six arms and the complete covering of the dorsal side of the disc with fan-shaped scales. The remaining characters are similar to Ophiactis luetkeni(see above).
Distribution.This sublittoral species (Mortensen 1933a) may be restricted to the Atlantic Ocean or distributed worldwide at depths down to 412 m, depending on the taxonomic status of this and several similar species. It has never been found as far north off West Africa as described here, but was described from the Caribbean.