Ophiocoma wendtii Mueller & Troschel, 1842

Gondim, Anne I., Alonso, Carmen, Dias, Thelma L. P., Manso, Cynthia L. C. & Christoffersen, Martin L., 2013, A taxonomic guide to the brittle-stars (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) from the State of Paraiba continental shelf, Northeastern Brazil, ZooKeys 307, pp. 45-96 : 65-66

Ophiocoma wendtii Mueller & Troschel, 1842 Figure 11 e–i

Description.

Disk pentagonal with small notches on interradius (dd = 2.71 to 15.07 mm) (Fig. 11e). Covered by small, imbricating scales, totally covered by small granules that extend over the first three dorsal arm segments (Fig. 11e). Ventral interradius covered by granules, that form a V-shaped area (Fig. 11f). Bursal slits long and enlarged. Oral shields triangular (Fig. 11g). Adoral shields distally flaring, not touching medi ally. Four oral papillae on each side of jaw angle (Fig. 11g), the one but last largest and partially covering last papilla. A cluster of papillae on jaw apex (Fig. 11g). Dorsal arm plate wider than long, fan-shaped (Fig. 11h). Ventral arm plate pentagonal, with distal margin rounded (Fig. 11i). Single large tentacle scale, but the six first arm segments may present two scales. Three or four long, pointed, arm spines, with blunt tip, the dorsal one biggest, four or five arm segments long (Fig. 11h). They decrease in size in the direction of the ventral spine, which is slightly curved. Arm segments with three or four alternating spines.

Distribution.

Bermuda, the Bahamas, the islands off southern Florida, Texas offshore reefs, the Antilles, Mexican Caribbean, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, islands off Caribbean Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil ( Lyman 1865, H.L. Clark 1933, Hendler et al. 1995, Chavarro et al. 2004, Durán-Gonzáles et al. 2005, Alvarado et al. 2008). In Brazil from Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte ( Albuquerque 1986), Pernambuco ( Tommasi 1970), Alagoas ( Miranda et al. 2012), Bahia ( Magalhães et al. 2005), Trindade oceanic island off Espírito Santo ( Tommasi 1970) and Rio de Janeiro ( Manso 1993). Found from 1 to 384m. In this study, recorded for the first time in the State of Paraíba, between 10 and 34 m.

Remarks.

Lives in bottoms of coral, dead shells ( Tommasi 1970), calcareous algae, in all reef zones, mangroves, seagrass beds, below rocks, in coral colonies, and under sponges ( Hendler et al. 1995). The presence of alimentary particles on the arms during the day, when Ophiocoma wendtii is hidden inside shelters, suggests that this species is a suspension or detritivorous feeder ( Hendler et al. 1995). All samples examined herein have granules on the disk. This differs from the observation of H.L. Clark (1918), who only observed granules in specimens with a disk diameter above 5 mm.