Ophiacantha brevispina Koehler, 1898

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 : 163

Erroneous— Ophiacantha brevispina Koehler, 1898

Reports for the Azores:

Ophiacantha brevispina Koehler, 1898 — Bartsch 1987: 120–121, figs. 16, 17.

Type locality: Bay of Biscay (46°27’00″N, 4°09’46″W) .

See: Koehler (1898: 56–57, pl. 8, figs. 43, pl. 9, fig. 44).

Occurrence: Northeast Atlantic, from the Bay of Biscay to Dakar in Senegal ( Koehler 1898, Bartsch 1987), including Madeira ( Jesus & Abreu 1998).

Depth: 90–417 m ( Bartsch 1987).

Habitat: soft sediment, sand to muddy sand ( Cadenat 1938).

Remarks: few specimens of Ophiacantha brevispina have been found since Koehler (1898) described this species. Cadenat (1938) identified numerous animals from an area that the author referred as Cape Blanc and Cape Verde as Ophiacantha sp., though none of the specimens came from the later archipelago but from Dakar. Regardless Cadenat remarked that these brittle stars were quite close to what Koehler described as Ophiacantha brevispina . Later, Bartsch (1987) recorded O. brevispina from the same region as the previous author. Bartsch erroneously listed the Azores under geographical range of this species (citing Cadenat 1938), mistaking the Cape Verde Islands with the Azores.