Ophiomusium incertum Koehler, 1930

Baker, Alan N., 2016, An illustrated catalogue of type specimens of the bathyal brittlestar genera Ophiomusium Lyman and Ophiosphalma H. L. Clark (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea), Zootaxa 4097 (1), pp. 1-40 : 12

Ophiomusium incertum Koehler, 1930 .

Figures 14 a, b

Ophiomusium incertum Koehler, 1930 ; Baker, 1979; Rowe & Gates, 1995. Ophiomusium aporum H.L. Clark, 1928 ; Dartnall, 1980; Baker, 1979, p.30.

Syntypes ZMUC OPH-499 and MCZ 5916, Pacific Expedition Station 38, eastern Bass Strait, Australia, 180– 290 m. A further syntype is in the ZMUC collection, from Station 95, Kei Is.

Main Features: This species is similar to O. asperum Koehler in that the disc plates have small conical stumps on most plates, arranged mainly on the distal part of each plate. The stumps are prominent on the edges of interradial plates. The ventral surface of the disc is smooth. The arms are different from asperum however, in that the 5–6 spines per segment are short and thick and are spaced evenly around the arm from dorsal to ventral on a noticeably swollen rim of the lateral arm plates. The oral papillae are fused, and the genital slits are small—less than half the length of the adjacent arm segment. No ventral arm plates or exposed tentacle pores.

Ophiomusium aporum H. L. Clark is a synonym of O. incertum ( Baker, 1979) . A further specimen of incertum was examined from the Kermadec Islands, and is a new record for the New Zealand region (NMNZ BS 581, 573– 539 m).