Ophiactis plana? Lyman, 1869

Madeira, Patrícia, Kroh, Andreas, Cordeiro, Ricardo, De, António M., Martins, Frias & Ávila, Sérgio P., 2019, The Echinoderm Fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic Ocean), Zootaxa 4639 (1), pp. 1-231 : 24

Ophiactis plana? Lyman, 1869

Reports for the Azores:

non Ophiactis profundi Ltken & Mortensen, 1829—? $ Koehler 1909: 173 [misidentification]; Mortensen 1927a: 199, 200 [based on Koehler 1909]; García-Diez et al. 2005: 48 [based on Koehler 1909];

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Ophiactis plana Lyman, 1869 — H.L. Clark 1918: 301–302 [based on Koehler 1909].

Type locality: off Carysfort Reef , Florida .

See: Lyman (1869: 330–331); A.M. Clark (1974: 464–465); St̂hr & Segonzac (2004: 16).

Occurrence: Atlantic, in the west from North Carolina to the Caribbean waters and the Gulf of Mexico (H.L. Clark 1915); in the east from Namibia to South Africa ( Alva & Vadon 1989), including the archipelagos of the?Azores and?Madeira ( Jesus & Abreu 1998).

Depth: 18–412 m (H.L. Clark 1918, A.M. Clark 1974);? AZO: 650–914 m ( Koehler 1909).

Habitat: soft sediments, also on sponges and on corals (Lyman in Koehler 1914 b, Alva & Vadon 1989).

Larval stage: unknown; also reproduces asexually through fission ( Alva & Vadon 1989).

Remarks: Koehler (1909) reported Ophiactis profundi from the Azores based on two specimens collected by Princesse Alice (sta 2214: 39°26’10”N, 31°21’30”W, 650–914 m), a deep-water species believed to be restricted to the Pacific (St̂hr & Segonzac 2004). Later Koehler (1922) commented that the material collected by Princesse Alice in the Atlantic was either O. profundi or ‘a form extremely close to it’ (see as well L̹tken & Mortensen 1899). H.L. Clark (1918) synonymised O. profundi with O. plana based on a comparison of the type material of both species, and included Princesse Alice records from the Azores under the geographical distribution of O. plana . Mortensen (1924, 1936) agreed that O. plana and O. profundi could be conspecific, but stated further studies were necessary. The matter is still unresolved pending future revision (see St̂hr & Segonzac 2004). In spite of the great depths at which Princesse Alice specimens were collected we believe they most probably belong to the Atlantic form O. plana . The same can be assumed for the Madeira record by Jesus & Abreu (1998).