Ophiocnida scabriuscula ( Luetken , 1859)

Gondim, Anne I., Alonso, Carmen, Dias, Thelma L. P., Manso, Cynthia L. C. & Christoffersen, Martin L., 2013, A taxonomic guide to the brittle-stars (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) from the State of Paraiba continental shelf, Northeastern Brazil, ZooKeys 307, pp. 45-96 : 57

Ophiocnida scabriuscula ( Luetken, 1859) Figure 6 e–i

Description.

Disk circular with slight indentations in interradius (dd = 4.45 mm). Dorsal and ventral surfaces covered by numerous small spines, also in between the radial shields (Fig. 6e). Scales numerous on disk, imbricating and of different sizes, the largest surrounding the radial shields. Radial shields longer than wide, divergent and with two small accessory plates (Fig. 6e). Bursal slits long. Oral shields arrowhead-shape (Fig. 6g). Adoral shields enlarged laterally. Two oral papillae on each side of jaw angle, small, rounded, and slightly elongated (Fig. 6g). Dorsal arm plate rectangular, narrow, with distal margin rounded (Fig. 6h). Ventral arm plate pentagonal (Fig. 6i). Two small tentacle scales. Three arm spines slightly flattened, the dorsal one slightly longer and wider than the other two.

Distribution.

Bermuda, Florida, the islands off southern Florida, the Antilles, Mexican Caribbean, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil ( Hendler et al. 1995, Hernández-Herrejón et al. 2008). In Brazil from Maranhão ( Albuquerque 1986), Paraíba ( Gondim et al. 2008, 2011), Pernambuco ( Lima and Fernandes 2009), Alagoas ( Lima et al. 2011), Bahia ( Rathbun 1879, Magalhães et al. 2005), Abrolhos off southern Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Paraná ( Tommasi 1970). Intertidal to 68 m. Recorded in this study between 18 and 30 m.

Remarks.

This littoral species has a limited bathymetric distribution ( H.L. Clark 1933). It is known from hard substrates (sand and gravel) ( Tommasi 1970) and from marine seagrasses ( Hendler et al. 1995). We observed the formation of a third tentacle scale in some arm segments.