Biogeography and taxonomy of Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from the Îles Saint- Paul and Amsterdam in the southern Indian Ocean
Author
O’Hara, Timothy D.
Museums Victoria, GPO Box 666 E, Melbourne, 3001, AUSTRALIA,
Author
Thuy, Ben
Natural History Museum of Luxembourg, 24 Rue Münster, 2160 Luxembourg
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-03-31
5124
1
1
49
journal article
53164
10.11646/zootaxa.5124.1.1
9666d599-2c7d-4a52-bce2-a8794f03265b
1175-5326
6404674
C015F8CB-799B-4A92-90AE-02B4C576089E
Ophiotreta spectabilis
(G.O.
Sars, 1872
)
comb. nov.
Fig. 6F
Ophiacantha spectabilis
Sars, 1872: 10
.—
Lyman 1882: 198
.—
Mortensen 1933c: 33–34
.—
Paterson 1985: 41
, fig. 18.—
Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 96
, fig. 11c.
Ophiacantha (Ophiectodia) spectabilis
.—
Verrill 1899a: 42
.
Material examined
.
MD
50 CP7,
MNHN
IE
.2009.1564 (7).
MD
50 CP145,
MNHN
IE
.2009.1565 (1).
Distribution
. Arctic (
190–1505 m
), NW Atlantic (
240–366 m
), NE Atlantic (
530–1830 m
), S
Australia
(
780– 1700 m
),
New Zealand
(
150–1460 m
). SPA (
825–1680 m
).
Remarks
. This species is easily recognised by the large oval tentacle scales (two on basal segments), the multiple (4–8) oral papillae, the pentagonal oral shield that is bordered distally by a fringe of small papillae, and the rod-shaped disc spines that can be terminated by small thorns (
Fig. 6F
). This species has been identified as an associate (
O’Hara
et al.
2008
) of the colonial deep-water coral
Solenosmilia variabilis
. Both MD50 samples that contained
O. spectabilis
(to
8.5 mm
dd) also contained
S. variabilis
(see MNHN online collections database, https:// science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/item/search).
Phylogenetic evidence shows conclusively that this species belongs in the family
Ophiotomidae
rather than the
Ophiacanthidae (
O’Hara
et al.
2017
)
, and consequently it is transferred here to the genus
Ophiotreta
pending a revision of this family. Many of the existing ophiotomid genera appear to be non-monophyletic. In the phylogeny, it is sister to a clade that includes the tropical Indo-Pacific species
Ophiopristis procera
(
Koehler, 1904
)
and
Ophiopristis luctosa
(
Koehler, 1904
)
which also have a fringe of papillae on the dorsal margin of the oral shields (
O’Hara & Stöhr 2006
).