Ophiolepis paucispina (Say, 1825)

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 : 52

Ophiolepis paucispina (Say, 1825) Figure 3 g–l

Description.

Disk circular (dd = 2.74 to 3.55 mm). Covered by large scales, and surrounded by smaller ones of similar size. Central primary plate circular, well defined, surrounded by five small primary plates, and intercalated by two smaller scales (Fig. 3g). Radial shield triangular, separated distally by three large scales disposed in a triangle. Ventral interradius covered by scales, slightly smaller and narrower than dorsal scales (Fig. 3h). Bursal slits long and narrow. Oral shields pentagonal, elongate, distal margin convex (Fig. 3i). Adoral shields broad, enlarged laterally. Four oral papillae on each side of jaw angle, the three proximal of which are pointed and subequal, the last one being longest and broadest (Fig. 3i). Dorsal arm plate fan-shaped (Fig. 3j). Arm segments with accessory dorsal plate, except near the tip (Fig. 3j). Ventral arm plate pentagonal, with lateral margins concave and distal margin rounded. Two tentacle scales oval, outher one larger. Two arm spines small (Fig. 3l).

Distribution.

Bermuda, the Bahamas, Florida, Caribbean Sea, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and off Africa ( Hendler et al. 1995, Laguarda-Figueras et al. 2009, Alvarado 2011, Benavides-Serrato et al. 2011, Barboza and Borges 2012). In Brazil, from Alagoas ( Lima et al. 2011), and Bahia (Abrolhos) ( Magalhães et al. 2005). Intertidal to 37 m in depth ( Laguarda-Fiqueras et al. 2009). In this study they were found for the first time in the State of Paraíba, between 30 and 33 m.

Remarks.

This species is known from shallow, sandy reef flats, mangrove, lagoonal, and seagrass environments, under coral rubble on sand, in calcareous algae such as Halimeda , and among plant debris ( Hendler et al. 1995). Ophiolepis paucispina is an oviviparous and simultaneous hermaphroditic species ( Byrne 1989, Hendler et al. 1995) that broods up to 41 embyos in the genital bursae ( Hendler 1979a). In the examined specimens the shape of the adoral shields varied from fan-shape to pentagonal and the number of papillae varied from 3 to 4. It is difficult to separate young individuals of this species from its congener Ophiolepis impressa . Yet, the presence of acessory dorsal plates along the entire arm and only two arm spines in Ophiolepis paucispina are the most reliable differential characters to distinguish these two species. Personal observations suggest that this is a rare species along the littoral of the State of Paraíba.