Ophiacantha striolata Mortensen, 1933

O’Hara, Timothy D. & Thuy, Ben, 2025, Seamount ophiuroids from the High Seas of the western Indian Ocean, Zootaxa 5718 (1), pp. 1-88 : 46-47

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5718.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A97521F7-2BF1-4840-8C22-03AF6B0AE2D2
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17891365
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3724530A-FFF6-A855-FF1A-A43D5C15FD0F
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Ophiacantha striolata Mortensen, 1933
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Treatment

Ophiacantha striolata Mortensen, 1933 View in CoL

Ophiacantha striolata Mortensen, 1933b: 322–324 View in CoL , fig. 42–43. — Clark, A.M. & Courtman-Stock, 1976: 168–169, figs 169, 175, 180. — Clark, A.M., 1977: 135. — Olbers et al. 2019: 122–123, fig. 106–107.

STUDY MATERIAL. — MD208 : stn WB05 , Walters shoal, Zone sommitale Sud, 33° 15.12´S, 43° 54.514´E, 26–30 m, 1/5/2017: 1 ( MNHN IE.2023.4164) ( DNA code= IE.2023.4164) GoogleMaps .

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Ophiacantha alternata A.M. Clark, 1966 : MRG/797, Flinders , bay side of West Head, 38° 29´S, 145° 2´E, 0–1 m, 7/3/2014 GoogleMaps , MV F173963 ( DNA code=F173963). Ophiacantha indica Ljungman, 1867 : KGR/ Sled 12, King George River region, 13° 53.933´S, 127° 20.6148´E, 41 m, 7/6/2013 GoogleMaps , MV F193489 ( DNA code=F193489) .

Distribution. South Africa to Southern Mozambique ( 84–412m), Walters Shoal ( 26–30 m)

Remarks. The single Walters Shoal specimen ( 3 mm dd) has short arms, barely 3x dd; the disc is covered in trifid disc spinelets with numerous thorns (see Mortensen 1933b) on thin perforated overlapping plates, including a few on the distal ends of radial shields, sparser ventrally; to 8 arm spines meeting dorsally, middle to lower ones with numerous thorns, upper more smooth, up to 2 segments in length, distally the lowest spine is a little curved; narrow jaw, 3 erect oral papillae, triangular oral shields, adoral shields extended radially, but separated by the first VAP; LAPs very striated; the single tentacle scale is 1/2 as long as segment, 2x as long as wide, striated with pointed or thorny tip, VAPs thin glassy and beaded. This specimen matches Mortensen’s type description and figures of O. striolata from eastern South Africa, especially the form of the disc spines, however, the tentacle scale is larger than the minute scale figured for the type. On our phylogeny ( Fig. 2b View FIGURE 2 ) this specimen is sister to Ophiacantha indica and O. alternata both shallow water species from the East Indo-West Pacific and Southern Australia respectively.