Ophiactis macrolepidota Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1887

Stöhr, Sabine, Çinar, Melih Ertan & Dagli, Ertan, 2010, Brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the southern coast of Turkey (eastern Mediterranean): new records and revision of Amphiodia obtecta Mortensen, 1940, Zootaxa 2483, pp. 45-57 : 53

Ophiactis macrolepidota Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1887

Material examined. ESFM-ECH/ 2005-11, 15.9.2005, Iskenderun Bay, K11, 1 m, on Jania rubens , 2 specimens; ESFM-ECH/ 2005-12, 12.9.2005, Meydankoy, K1, 3- 5 m, on rocks, 1 specimen.

Remarks. The specimens found in this study resemble Ophiactis parva Mortensen, 1926 , a species that was described from the Suez Canal ( Mortensen 1926) and has since been synonymized with O. macrolepidota by Rowe (in Rowe & Gates 1995). Currently, three additional nominal species ( O. delicata H.L. Clark, 1915 , O. acosmeta H.L. Clark, 1938 , O. parva ) are included in the concept of O. macrolepidota , two more ( O. lymani Ljungman, 1872 and O. plana Lyman, 1869 ) have been suggested for inclusion (Rowe in Rowe & Gates 1995). The result would be a species with a wide circumtropical distribution, similar to O. savignyi . However, it is possible that this is a complex of morphologically variable, but genetically different species. Examination of type material proved inconclusive due to the small size of the animals (Stöhr, unpublished results) and a genetic study is needed to resolve this question.

Distribution. In the Mediterranean Sea, this species (as O. parva ) was first found in 1968 near Haifa Bay ( Israeli coast) and subsequently from the same area in 1974 in association with algae, sponges, Antedon mediterranea ( Lamarck, 1816) and crevices of bioherms at 40-80 m depths ( Tom & Galil 1991). It was regarded as a Lessepsian migrant. We found it on rocks and algae at two stations (K1 and K11). This species is new to the marine fauna of Turkey. Its conspecifics have been found in tropical areas of both sides of the Atlantic Ocean ( Hendler et al. 1995) and in the West Pacific ( Rowe & Gates 1995). The type locality ( Marktanner-Turneretscher 1887) of O. macrolepidota is Sydney, Australia.