Ophioconis forbesi ( Heller, 1863 )

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 : 39

Ophioconis forbesi ( Heller, 1863)

Reports for the Azores:

Ophioconis forbesi L̹tken, 1869 — $ Koehler 1896a: 213, 1898: 58;

Ophioconis forbesi ( Heller, 1863) — $ Koehler 1909: 141; Koehler 1921b: 89–90, fig. 59; Mortensen 1927a: 227; Tortonese 1965: 262–263, fig. 120; Pereira 1997: 332; García-Diez et al. 2005: 50; Micael & Costa 2010: 322; Micael et al. 2012: 3.

Type locality: Adriatic (Mediterranean Sea).

See: Heller (1863: 422–424, pl. 2, figs. 5–8) Koehler (1921b); Tortonese (1965).

Occurrence: Mediterranean Sea and Northeast Atlantic, from the Bay of Biscay to Moroccan coasts ( Tortonese 1965), including the archipelagos of the Azores ( Koehler 1909) and Canaries ( Hernández et al. 2013), and the seamounts of Josephine, Seine and Gettysburg ( Koehler 1909).

Depth: 20–230 m ( Koehler 1921b, Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972); AZO: 98–130 m ( Koehler 1898, 1909).

Habitat: sand, gravel and shells to rock; also among coralligenous algae; found in association with Ophiura albida Forbes, 1939 ( Koehler 1921b) .

Remarks: Koehler (1896a, 1898, 1909) identified the only two specimens of Ophioconis forbesi known from the Azores, collected by Hirondelle (sta 226: 38°31’19”N, 28°34’31”W, 130 m) and Princesse Alice (sta 882: 38°03’40”N, 28°34’45”W, 98 m).