Ophiacantha aculeata Verrill 1885

• Main Authors: Madeira, Patrícia, Kroh, Andreas, Cordeiro, Ricardo, De, António M., Martins, Frias, Ávila, Sérgio P.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Echinodermata; Ophiuroidea; Ophiurida; Ophiacanthidae; Ophiacantha; Ophiacantha aculeata; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5583090; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/4148D2120470FFF3FF33FD5D75111533

Ophiacantha aculeata Verrill, 1885a Reports for the Azores: Ophiacantha aculeata Verrill, 1885 — $ Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 90–91, figs. 7A, 10. Type locality: off Virginia, USA (37°50’00”N, 73°03’50”W). See: Verrill (1885a: 153; 1885b: 443–444); Koehler (1914a: 74–77, pl. 11, figs. 1–2); Martynov & Litvinova (2008). Occurrence: North Atlantic deep waters, from off Virginia to New England, eastwards to Rockall Trough, the Bay of Biscay to Iberian Basin, including in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from Reykjanes Ridge to the north of the Azores (Martynov & Litvinova 2008). Depth: 1,650–3,584 m (AZO: 2,954–2,968 m; Martynov & Litvinova 2008). Habitat: soft sediments ( Globigerina ooze; Verrill 1885a). Remarks: Ophiacantha aculeata was recently identified by Martynov & Litvinova (2008) among the material collected by G.O. Sars ( MAR–ECO expedition) at a station located at the northern border of the Azorean waters (sta 40/367: 42°55’N, 30°20’W, 2,954 –2,968 m). This species has been historically confused with O . fraterna Verrill, 1885c (Martynov & Litvinova 2008), a species also considered at one point conspecific or a variety of O. bidentata (Bruzelius, 1805). See remarks under the latter species. Published as part of Madeira, Patrícia, Kroh, Andreas, Cordeiro, Ricardo, De, António M., Martins, Frias & Ávila, Sérgio P., 2019, The Echinoderm Fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic Ocean), pp. 1-231 in Zootaxa 4639 (1) on page 33, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4639.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3342161