Ophioderma longicauda? ( Bruzelius, 1805 )

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 : 38

Ophioderma longicauda? ( Bruzelius, 1805)

Reports for the Azores:

Ophiura laevis $ Lyman, 1865: 10 , 26;

Ophioderma longicauda Linck, 1733 — Koehler 1914b: 275, 1921b: 87–89, fig. 58;

Ophioderma longicaudum (Retzius, 1805) — $ H.L. Clark 1915: 301; Tortonese 1965: 259–261, figs. 118–119;

Ophioderma longicauda ( Bruzelius, 1805) — Mortensen 1927a: 226; Pérez-Ruzafa et al. 2002: 282; Micael & Costa 2010: 322; Micael et al. 2012: 3.

See: Tortonese (1965); St̂hr et al. (2009).

Occurrence: Mediterranean Sea and Northeast Atlantic, from Brittany on the west coast of France to Congo ( Tortonese 1965), including the archipelagos of the?Azores, Madeira, Canaries ( Koehler 1914b), Selvagens (Pérez- Ruzafa et al. 2002) and Cape Verde ( Entrambasaguas 2008).

Depth: 0–70 m ( Tortonese 1965), recorded at 120 m in the Gulf of Guinea ( Cadenat 1938) .

Habitat: hard to coralligenous and muddy substrates, also among algae, under rocks and in Posidonia and Caulerpa beds ( Tortonese 1965).

Larval stage: lecithotrophic larvae, though brooding females were also observed in the Mediterranean Sea ( St̂hr et al. 2009).

Remarks: the only known specimen from the Azores was reported by Lyman (1865, as Ophiura laevis ) based on the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard University). However, Lyman presented no data on its origin, depth, collector or date. Later, H.L. Clark (1915, as Ophioderma longicaudum ) confirmed Lyman’s identification, but added no further information. Though we have no doubts about the species identification, the lack of specimen background information requires to include this shallow water species in the dubious records list, until new material is found that could substantiate the historical records.