Ophioconis claviculata Okanishi & Fujita, 2018b

Okanishi, Masanori, Oba, Yuichi & Fujita, Yoshihisa, 2019, Brittle stars from a submarine cave of Christmas Island, northwestern Australia, with description of a new bioluminescent species Ophiopsila xmasilluminans (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) and notes on its behaviour, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 67, pp. 421-439 : 434-435

Ophioconis claviculata Okanishi & Fujita, 2018b

( Fig. 11A )

Ophioconis claviculata Okanishi & Fujita, 2018b: 164–173 , figs 2–6. Ophioconis cupida non Koehler, 1905: Tan et al., 2014: 414; Fujita

et al., 2015: 47.

Material examined. RUMF-ZE-00155, 2 specimens, submarine cave known as “ Thunderdome Cave ” at Christmas Island, northwestern Australia, depth approximately 10 m, bait trap with Pacific saury [ Cololabis saira (Brevoort, 1856) ], SCUBA diving, coll. Y. Fujita, 28 March 2011. Partly bleached to remove integuments .

Distribution. Known from the Ryukyu Islands, southwestern Japan, approximately 20–35 m depth ( Okanishi & Fujita, 2018b); Christmas Island, northwestern Australia, a submarine cave known as “Thunderdome Cave”, approximately 10 m depth (This study, Fig. 1 ).

Common Japanese name. Konbou-awahada-kumohitode.

Remarks. Morphological features of examined two specimens correspond to the diagnostic characters of Ophioconis claviculata Okanishi & Fujita, 2018b , disc covered by granules; four, sometimes five, flat, polygonal oral papillae on each side of jaw; broad and flat teeth with hyaline distal end; spiniform and conical arm spines, two times longer than the corresponding arm segment at the maximum length; oral-most arm spines on proximal portion of arms flattened and clavate; four tentacle scales on third tentacle pore; and ventral arm plate longer than wide, with concentrate lamellar striations.

The type specimens of O. claviculata were collected at Ryukyu Islands , southwestern Japan, 20–35 m depth and thus, its occurrence in northwestern Australia is a large extension of the geographical range to westward .

Figures

Fig.11. Aboral views ofOphioconis claviculata (RUMF-ZE-00155) (A) and Ophiomora elegans (RUMF-ZE-00142) (B), anesthetised living specimens. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 1. Sampling location of three ophiuroid species examined in this study.