Astrocladus ludwigi ( Döderlein, 1896 )

Baker, Alan N., Okanishi, Masanori & Pawson, David L., 2018, Euryalid brittle stars from the International Indian Ocean Expedition 1963 - 64 (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Euryalida), Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 1-27 : 10-11

Astrocladus ludwigi ( Döderlein, 1896)

( Fig. 6F–I )

Euryale ludwigi Döderlein, 1896: 299 , pl. 17 figs. 28a–c.

Astrocladus ludwigi . — Baker, 1980: 63, figs 28,33; Shin, 1998: 198.

Material Examined. USNM 1072478 , Anton Bruun Cruise 7 Station 371E, off southern Mozambique, 24°46’S, 35°20’E, 132 m, 18 August, 1964, 1 specimen ( Fig. 6F–I ).

Remarks. A small (5 mm disc diameter) example, but showing the adult characteristics of a disc covering of closely set domed tubercles, with larger ones on the radial shields ( Fig. 6F, H ). The girdle bands on the arms begin at the disc edge ( Fig. 6I ), and the girdle hooklets have the typical single secondary hooklet. There is a single madreporite at the disc edge orally.

This record, off the Mozambique coast, is a range extension of A. ludwigi from the eastern Indian Ocean and Indonesia.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Astroboa nigrofurcata (USNM 1072537) (A–C, smaller specimen, D–E, larger specimen) and Astrocladus ludwigi (USNM 1072478) (F–I). A, aboral view; B, oral view; C–D, aboral peripheral disc; E, aboral basal portion of the arm; F, aboral view; G, oral view; H, aboral disc, a square part is enlarged in I; I, aboral peripheral disc, a circle indicates girdle hooklets.