Amphipholis squamata ( Delle Chiaje, 1828 )

Amphipholis squamata ( Delle Chiaje, 1828) View in CoL

Asteria squamata Delle Chiaje, 1828: 74 View in CoL .

Amphipholis squamata View in CoL . — 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 View Cited Treatment .

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

Amphipholis minor View in CoL . — 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 GoogleMaps 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 GoogleMaps 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shallow water records from the Western Indian Ocean have proved to belong to the widespread tropical “clade E” (O’Hara unpublished data).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.