Ophiomitra granifera Lütken & Mortensen, 1899

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 : 32

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.7795099

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AB87FA-FFBE-FFCA-FF7B-FD4DFA87F934

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Ophiomitra granifera Lütken & Mortensen, 1899
status

 

Ophiomitra granifera Lütken & Mortensen, 1899 View in CoL

Fig. 7G‒L View FIGURE 7

Ophiomitra granifera Lütken & Mortensen, 1899: 177‒178 View in CoL , pl. 19, figs. 9‒12.

Material examined. 22 individuals at one station. TALUD XII, Sta. 27, 22 ind. (ICML-EMU-12998).

Comparative material. Syntypes, 10 ind.: MCZ OPH-2050 , MNHN-IE-2013-10260, USNM 19583 About USNM , USNM 19584 About USNM (Supplementary file 2) .

Description (ICML-EMU-12998). DD = 6.6 mm. Disc rounded, slightly indented interradially. Dorsal disc covered by imbricated scales and scattered thorny granules. Central primary plate evident. RS slightly longer than broad, triangular with rounded edges, separated by a row of scales and granules ( Fig. 7G View FIGURE 7 ). Ventral interradii short, covered by imbricated scales ( Fig. 7H View FIGURE 7 ). OSh broader than long, diamond-shape with rounded edges. Madreporite not evident. AdSh longer than broad, semilunar, almost meeting or meeting in front of OSh. Jaws bearing three papillae at each side; AdShSp lanceolate, larger than rest; LOPa and IPa elongated, pointed. vT longer than oral papillae ( Fig. 7I View FIGURE 7 ). Arms slender, gradually narrowing distally. First two DAP reduced, covered by few granules similar to those on the disc; subsequent DAP longer than broad, triangular with rounded distal edge, slightly separated from each other ( Fig. 7J View FIGURE 7 ). VAP slightly broader than long, heptagonal, separated from each other. LAP with 5‒6 ArSp, large (approximately 1.5 arm segment in length), serrated; dorsalmost the longest and ventralmost the shortest. One lanceolate TSc ( Fig. 7K View FIGURE 7 ). Color pattern beige-whitish (ethanol preservation) ( Fig. 7G‒L View FIGURE 7 ).

Habitat and distribution. Only recorded from the Mexican Pacific, off western Baja California, in the Gulf of California, off Nayarit, Colima, and Marias Islands; 267‒ 2,806 m depth, rocky and sandy bottoms (Lütken & Mortensen 1899; Luke 1982; Granja-Fernández et al. 2015, 2021; see Remarks). The material examined was collected off Colima; 1,040 ‒1,095 m depth.

Remarks. The collected material presented the following variations: 1) some individuals had radial shields in contact distally or entirely separated, and 2) the central primary plate is present (more common) or not. Ophiomitra granifera easily loses disc granules due to rough handling, which hampers identification since these granules are one of the diagnostic characters of the species; however, each detached granule leaves a fingerprint as a round articular depression in each scale which makes the presence of granules easily identifiable even if they are lost. The record of O. granifera off Colima (18º40′28″N; 104º35′51″W) is an extension of its southernmost distribution limit.

MCZ

Museum of Comparative Zoology

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Echinodermata

Class

Ophiuroidea

Order

Ophiacanthida

Family

Ophiotomidae

Genus

Ophiomitra

Loc

Ophiomitra granifera Lütken & Mortensen, 1899

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

Ophiomitra granifera Lütken & Mortensen, 1899: 177‒178

Mortensen, T. 1899: 178
1899
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