Ophiopeza fallax, Peters, 1851, Peters, 1851

Boissin, Emilie, Hoareau, Thierry B., Paulay, Gustav & Bruggemann, J. Henrich, 2016, Shallow-water reef ophiuroids (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) of Réunion (Mascarene Islands), with biogeographic considerations, Zootaxa 4098 (2), pp. 273-297 : 287

O phiopeza fallax PETERS, 1851 complex

(UF-6521, Fig. 5 a, KC760045 )

Material. 2 spms, St. 3; 2 spms, St. 7

Remarks. The granules covering the disc and the radial shields indicate the specimens match the nominal subspecies, O. fallax fallax morphologically, rather than O. fallax arabica , which has some bare disc plates and bare radial shields. The disc is brownish-beige, with some pink or red patches and black dots. The third dorsal arm plate on each arm is dark red, as was noticed on specimens from Mauritius by de Loriol (1893a). O. fallax can easily be distinguished from O. exilis by the shape of the dorsal arm plates (broad and rectangular in O. exilis and fan-shaped in O. fallax ) and the number of spines (5 in O. exilis , up to 12 in O. fallax ). O. kingi also has fewer arm spines (up to 8-9) and longer arms (> 5x DD) ( Devaney, 1974), compared with arms 3- 4 x DD in O. fallax . COI sequence data shows deep genetic differentiation between two lineages that are both attributable to O. f. fallax morphologically. Both occur in the SWIO, but only one has been encountered at Réunion (Hoareau et al. 2013). Ophiopeza fallax clearly needs an overview with genetic data; for the present we recognize O. fallax as a potential species complex. Abundance: 1.

Distribution. Widespread across the IWP from East Africa & Madagascar, Mascarene Islands, Persian Gulf, East Indies to the Philippines. The species was already reported from Mauritius (de Loriol 1893a) and Réunion ( Guille & Ribes 1981).

a) Ophiopeza fallax ; b) Ophiopeza spinosa ; c) Ophiarachnella gorgonia ; d) Ophiarachnella gorgonia oral side; e) Ophiarachnella septemspinosa ; f) Ophioplocus imbricatus ; g) Ophiolepis cincta complex sp. 1; h) Ophiolepis cincta complex sp. 2; i) Ophiolepis superba .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Pictures of species encountered in Réunion Island waters. Pictures were taken of freshly collected specimens except when indicated. Photo credit: BIOTAS.