Ophiophrura sp.

O’Hara, Timothy D. & Thuy, Ben, 2025, Seamount ophiuroids from the High Seas of the western Indian Ocean, Zootaxa 5718 (1), pp. 1-88 : 38-40

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5718.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A97521F7-2BF1-4840-8C22-03AF6B0AE2D2
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3724530A-FFFE-A85C-FF1A-A5B85C6BFDE7
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Ophiophrura sp.
status

Treatment

Ophiophrura sp.

Fig. 13l–o View FIGURE 13

STUDY MATERIAL. — JC066 : stn 4-2, Coral seamount, 41° 20.708´S, 42° 55.292´E to 41° 20.99´S, 42° 55.12´E, 1300 m, 12/11/2011: 1 ( NHMUK 2025.65 About NHMUK ) GoogleMaps ( DNA code= JC066-243 ) .

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Ophiophrura liodisca H.L. Clark, 1911 : FK190106/S0219-S3, Costa Rica Rio Bongo Scar , 9° 17.5527´N, 84° 17.1487´W, 606 m, 13/1/2019 GoogleMaps , identified by Seid et al. (2025), SIO E7980 About SIO ( DNA code= SIO E7323 About SIO B). SE-1722/10DR, Kumano-nada , 33° 59.72´N, 136° 56.67´E to 33° 59.72´N, 136° 56.68´E, 796– 768 m, 10/11/2017 GoogleMaps , NSMT E11516 View Materials ( DNA code=SE-17-162). SS01/2008/40, Tasmanian fracture zone, 45° 8.5848´S, 146° 2.052´E to 45° 9.0552´S, 146° 0.1866´E, 1610–1640 m, 24/1/2008 GoogleMaps , MV F162603 ( DNA code= TOH _0918). TAN1206/32, Site SM4 d, NE flank, Tangaroa Seamount , Kermadec Ridge, 36° 19.218´S, 178° 3.39´E to 178° 3.318´N, 36° 19.152´W, 1421– 1412 m, 18/4/2012 , MV F188883 ( DNA code=02W1M) .

Remarks. The disc ( 3 mm dd) is covered with skin that hides the underlying thin imbricating disc scales, no spines or granules, radial shields not evident; oral shields 2x wider than long with a slightly convex distal border; 3–5 blunt lateral oral papillae, outer longest, adoral shield spine present; 4 arm spines after the disc, falling to 3, uppermost longest, slightly flattened, distally they are not hooked; triangular DAPs, 2–3 tentacle scales,

Martynov (2010) diagnosed 3 species within this genus based mainly on the shape of the oral shield, but O’Hara & Thuy (2022) found this to be variable, even on the same specimen. O’Hara & Thuy (2022) identified a specimen from the St Paul and Amsterdam Islands as O. tripapillata on the basis that it had a cluster of ventral tooth papillae at the jaw apex and a maximum of 4 arm spines. All other specimens from the bathyal of the Indo-Pacific have been referred to as O. liodisca . The current specimen is too juvenile to be clearly identifiable using the above criteria and we do not have any DNA sequences from the Atlantic as a comparison. However, the 4 DNA samples of Ophiophrura we have from the Indo-Pacific are genetically divergent, indicating the probability of cryptic speciation.