Amphipholis squamata (Delle Chiaje, 1828)

Asteria squamata Delle Chiaje, 1828: 74 .

Amphipholis squamata . — Clark, H.L., 1923: 330. — Mortensen, 1933b: 364–365. — Clark, A.M. & Rowe, 1971: 80–81, 99, fig. 27b, pl. 13(5). — Clark, A.M. & Courtman-Stock, 1976: 151–152, fig. 138. — Clark, A.M., 1976: 258. — Clark, A.M., 1977: 135. — Cherbonnier & Guille, 1978: 105–106, fig. 48(A–B). — Sloan, Clark & Taylor, 1979: 101. — Stöhr et al., 2008: 552–553, fig. 4d–e. — Olbers et al. 2019: 217–218, fig. 214–215. — O’Hara & Thuy, 2022: 38–39.

Ophiactis minor Döderlein, 1910: 253, pl. 5(3–3a) [according to Mortensen, 1933b].

Amphipholis minor . — Clark, H.L., 1923: 329. — Hertz, 1927a: 35.

STUDY MATERIAL. — MD208: stn WS07, Walters shoal, Zone sommitale Sud, 33° 15.435´S, 43° 52.1851´E, 30–33 m, 2/5/2017: 1 (MNHN IE.2016.1367).

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Amphipholis squamata .E SAYA / YR03, NW Saya de Malha, 9° 52.3´S, 60° 11.82´E, 43 m, 5/11/2022, MNHN IE.2023.4358 (DNA code=IE.2023.4358).

Distribution. Arctic (29–2369 m), NW Atlantic (0–1962 m), NE Atlantic (0–1560 m), NW Pacific (0–413 m), NE Pacific (0–933 m), W Atlantic (0–353 m), E Atlantic (0–741 m), W Indian Ocean (0–750 m), E Indo-W Pacific (0–694 m), E Pacific (0–46 m), S America (0–134 m), S Africa (0–1600 m), S Australia (0–841 m), New Zealand (2–1059 m). SPA (3–1600 m).

Remarks. Amphipholis squamata is an allopatric hybrid swarm with at least 4 major mitochondrial maternal lineages (Hugall et al. 2024). This complex is a successful coloniser of isolated habitats (Mortensen 1941); all individuals bear live young (or clones) and it is known to use macroalgal holdfasts to raft across oceans. DNA was not obtained from this tiny Walters Shoal specimen, however, other shallow water records from the Western Indian Ocean have proved to belong to the widespread tropical “clade E” (O’Hara unpublished data). Only synonyms relevant to the western Indian Ocean are listed above.