Hydrasterias ophidion ( Sladen, 1889 )

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 : 169

Erroneous— Hydrasterias ophidion ( Sladen, 1889)

Reports for the Azores:

non Hydrasterias ophidion Sladen—A.H. Clark 1949: 375 [misidentified H. sexradiata ].

Type locality: south of Halifax , Nova Scotia (42°08’N, 63°39’W) .

See: Sladen [1889: 581–582, pl. 99, figs. 3–4, pl. 103, figs. 3–4, as Asterias (Hydrasterias) ophidion ]; A.M. Clark & Downey (1992: 409, figs. 62a–b, pl. 97, figs. C–F).

Occurrence: Western Atlantic, from the New England Seamounts south of Nova Scotia eastwards to the Mid- Atlantic Ridge and south to South America (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992).

Depth: 2,286–2,330 m (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992).

Habitat: soft bottoms (mud; Sladen 1889).

Larval stage: direct development (A.M. Clark & Downey 1992).

Remarks: the western Atlantic Hydrasterias ophidion was reported from the Azores by A.H. Clark (1949) based on his identification of the material collected by Atlantis (sta 20: 37°50’30”N, 26°00’00”W, 2,562 m). Later, Dilman (2014) attributed A.H. Clark’s records to H. sexradiata , a known native to the Azorean deep waters.