Ophiacantha quadrispina H.L. Clark, 1917

Granja-Fernández, Rebeca, Hendrickx, Michel E., Rangel-Solís, Pedro Diego & López-Pérez, Andrés, 2023, Deep-sea Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) collected during the TALUD cruises in western Mexico, Zootaxa 5259 (1), pp. 1-71 : 39

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5259.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4306F52E-FD24-45B0-B307-66B71173D805

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7795113

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AB87FA-FF87-FFF2-FF7B-FC35FC91FEE6

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Ophiacantha quadrispina H.L. Clark, 1917
status

 

Ophiacantha quadrispina H.L. Clark, 1917 View in CoL

Fig. 10G‒L View FIGURE 10

Ophiacantha quadrispina H.L. Clark, 1917: 432‒433 View in CoL , pl. 1, figs. 3‒4, pl. 2, fig. 3.

Material examined. Three individuals at three stations. TALUD XIV, Sta. 7, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-11674); Sta. 15, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-11216). TALUD XV, Sta. 23, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-12997).

Comparative material. Syntypes, 4 ind.: MCZ OPH-4478 , USNM E686 About USNM , USNM E687 About USNM , USNM E688 About USNM (Supplementary file 2) .

Description (ICML-EMU-12997). DD = 9.9 mm. Disc pentagonal. Dorsal disc covered by granules and scales. Primary plates not evident. RS oval, small (covering ¼ of disc radius), separated ( Fig. 10G View FIGURE 10 ). Ventral interradii covered by scales and some elongated granules distally. Genital slits with conspicuous imbricated scales ( Fig. 10H View FIGURE 10 ). OSh broader than long, diamond-shaped with rounded edges, distally elongated. Madreporite larger than OSh.AdSh longer than broad, slender, distally projecting and surrounding AdSh, meeting in front of Osh or separated. Jaws bearing 6‒7 papillae at each side; AdShSp rounded; LOPa 4‒5, elongated, pointed, some of them placed in two rows; IPa pointed. vT quadrangular, located behind the pair of IPa ( Fig. 10I View FIGURE 10 ). Arms fragile. First DAP covered by scattered granules; subsequent DAP as long as broad, diamond-shape, meeting. Longitudinal swollen keel along the DAP ( Fig. 10J View FIGURE 10 ). VAP broader than long, pentagonal with rounded edges, meeting or almost meeting. LAP with four ArSp, large (approximately 2.5 arm segments in length), smooth, flattened, dorsalmost largest, ventralmost shortest. First seven tentacle pores with two TSc; subsequent pores with one lanceolate TSc ( Fig. 10K View FIGURE 10 ). Color pattern in dorsal disc and arms brown, ventral side beige ( Fig. 10G‒L View FIGURE 10 ). DAP with longitudinal brown and beige bands (ethanol preservation) ( Fig. 10J View FIGURE 10 ).

Habitat and distribution. Mexico and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador; 183‒ 871 m depth, muddy, sandy, and rocky substrates and gorgonians (H.L. Clark 1917; Maluf 1988; see Remarks). The material examined was collected off western Baja California Sur and in the northern Gulf of California; 203‒871 m depth.

Remarks. The genus Ophiacantha is a heterogeneous taxon that contains several groups of species that are difficult to place taxonomically ( O’Hara & Stöhr 2006). According to Christodoulou et al. (2019), Ophiacantha quadrispina clusters with Ophiotoma species and some Ophiomitra and Ophiopristis , suggesting that it does not belong to Ophiacanthidae but to the Ophiotomidae . Consequently, a complete revision of the genus is needed to determine the correct generic placement of O. quadrispina . Ophiacantha quadrispina was previously known only in the Gulf of California ( Granja-Fernández et al. 2015) and at a maximum depth of 549 m ( Maluf 1988). Material examined from off western Baja California Sur (27º8′11″N; 114º32′54″W) represents a new distribution record and an extension of its lower bathymetric limit to 871 m depth.

MCZ

Museum of Comparative Zoology

USNM

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Echinodermata

Class

Ophiuroidea

Order

Ophiacanthida

Family

Ophiacanthidae

Genus

Ophiacantha

Loc

Ophiacantha quadrispina H.L. Clark, 1917

Granja-Fernández, Rebeca, Hendrickx, Michel E., Rangel-Solís, Pedro Diego & López-Pérez, Andrés 2023
2023
Loc

Ophiacantha quadrispina H.L. Clark, 1917: 432‒433

Clark, H. L. 1917: 433
1917
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