Ophiura (Ophiuroglypha) Hertz, 1927

Mcknight, Donald G., 2003, New brittle­stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from New Zealand waters, Zootaxa 352, pp. 1-36 : 25

Ophiura (Ophiuroglypha) Hertz, 1927

The subgenus Ophiuroglypha is usually recognised as having 3 small armspines, the middle one becoming an upturned hooklet on distal arm segments ( Hertz, 1927). However O. irrorata includes subspecies ( O.loveni , O. polyacantha ) with up to 9 armspines, which are hooked or not. The O. irrorata group ( Paterson, 1985) also has an enlarged and distinct distal tentacle­scale or supplementary ventral armplate. In O. rugosa this is small and usually hidden by the larger scales on the proximal pore margin. The discrepancies between species assigned to Ophiuroglypha indicates that a revision of the subgenus is desirable.