Ophiernus adspersus annectens Lütken & Mortensen, 1899

Granja-Fernández, Rebeca, Hendrickx, Michel E., Rangel-Solís, Pedro Diego & López-Pérez, Andrés, 2023, Deep-sea Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) collected during the TALUD cruises in western Mexico, Zootaxa 5259 (1), pp. 1-71 : 43-45

Ophiernus adspersus annectens Lütken & Mortensen, 1899

Fig. 12G‒L

Ophiernus annectens Lütken & Mortensen, 1899: 107‒109 , pl. 5, figs. 4‒6.

Ophiernus polyporus Lütken & Mortensen, 1899: 109‒111 , pl. 5, figs. 7‒9.— H.L. Clark 1913: 212‒213; 1923: 154.

Ophiernus adspersus . H.L. Clark 1911: 95‒96, fig. 34.— Koehler 1922: 440‒442.

Ophiernus barracloughi Tommasi, 1976: 290 , figs. 10‒11, 39‒42.

Ophiernus adspersus annectens . Madsen 1977: 112, 116‒118, fig. 4.

Material examined. 197 individuals at nine stations. TALUD III, Sta. 24A, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-9018). TALUD VIII, Sta. 11, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-11676-B). TALUD XII, Sta. 10, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-11123); Sta. 23, 135 ind. (ICML-EMU-11124). TALUD XV, Sta. 1, 6 ind. (ICML-EMU-11126-A); Sta. 5C, 18 ind. (ICML-EMU-11125-B) and 4 ind. (ICML-EMU-11676-B); Sta. 5F, 2 ind. (ICML-EMU-11125-A); Sta. 8, 12 ind. (ICML-EMU-11126-B); Sta. 13, 17 ind. (ICML-EMU-11127).

Comparative material. Ophiernus annectens Lu ̈tken & Mortensen, 1899, syntypes, 17 ind.: MCZ OPH- 393, MCZ OPH- 841, MNHN 2013-10246, USNM 19432. Ophiernus polyporus Lu ̈tken & Mortensen, 1899, syntypes, 12 ind.: MCZ OPH- 394, MNHN 2013-10261, USNM 19434, USNM 19435, USNM 19436, NHMD OPH- 390, NHMD OPH- 391. Ophiernus barracloughi Tommasi, 1976 , holotype: USNM E11370 (Supplementary file 2).

Description (ICML-EMU-11124). DD = 14 mm. Disc flat, interadii indented. Dorsal disc obscured by skin and covered by fine granules mostly located in the center and between RS. Primary plates not evident. RS twice as long as greatest width, almost reaching disc center, scalene triangular, covering most of interradii, separated by small scales and granules ( Fig. 12G ). Ventral interradii covered proximally by scale-less integument, in the center with granules, distally with fine scales ( Fig. 12H ). OSh longer than broad, spearhead-shaped with distal lobe. Madreporite larger than OSh. AdSh longer than broad, scalene triangular, separated from each other. Jaws bearing 6‒7 papillae at each side, distalmost round, apical ones elongated. vT lanceolate ( Fig. 12I ). Arms wide, covered mostly by large LAP. DAP broader than long, trapezoidal, contiguous. Longitudinal middle keel along dorsal arm ( Fig. 12J ). VAP occupying only a third of the ventral arm width, longer than broad, scalene triangular, limited to midline of arm, contiguous. LAP strongly arched around arm, shorter than wide, with two arm spines, slender, short (approximately one arm segment in length), dorsalmost the longest. Tentacle pores rounded, very large (almost one VAP in length); first three tentacle pores with three TSc, subsequent with two lanceolate and vitreous TSc ( Fig. 12K ). Color pattern of dorsal side whitish ( Fig. 12G, L ), ventral side beige (ethanol preservation) ( Fig. 12H ).

Habitat and distribution. Mexico, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, and Peru; 750 ‒ 5,948 m depth, sandy substrates (Lütken & Mortensen 1899; Tommasi 1976; Madsen 1977; see Remarks). The material examined was collected off western Baja California Sur, in the Gulf of California, and off Colima and Guerrero; 750‒ 1,299 m depth.

Remarks. Recorded in Mexico in the Gulf of California, off western Baja California Sur, Marias Islands, and Guerrero ( Granja-Fernández et al. 2015). The record from off Colima is new. The shallowest published record of this species is 770 m depth ( Madsen 1977), and the shallowest sample examined herein came from 750 m depth, representing a slight extension of the bathymetric range of Ophiernus adspersus annectens .

Figures

FIGURE 12. Ophiophthalmus normani (Lyman, 1879) (ICML-EMU-11219, DD = 16 mm). A, Dorsal disc; B, Ventral disc; C, Mouth; D, Dorsal arm; E, Ventral arm; F, Dorsal view. Ophiernus adspersus annectens Lütken & Mortensen, 1899 (ICML- EMU-11124, DD = 14 mm). G, Dorsal disc; H, Ventral disc; I, Mouth; J, Dorsal arm; K, Ventral arm; L, Dorsal view.