Ophiopholidae O’Hara, Stöhr, Hugall, Thuy & Martynov, 2018

Goharimanesh, Mona, Stöhr, Sabine, Mirshamsi, Omid, Ghassemzadeh, Fereshteh & Adriaens, Dominique, 2021, Interactive identification key to all brittle star families (Echinodermata; Ophiuroidea) leads to revised morphological descriptions, European Journal of Taxonomy 766 (1), pp. 1-63 : 47-48

Family Ophiopholidae O’Hara, Stöhr, Hugall, Thuy & Martynov, 2018

Type genus

Ophiopholis Müller & Troschel, 1842 . (No other genera)

Description

ARM. Arm shape unbranched; length 3–4× disc diameter; covering without granules/spines/tubercles. Arm combs absent. Dorsal arm plate present. Accessory dorsal arm plate present. Ventral arm plate present.Accessory ventral arm plate present. Girdle of tiny hooks on the arms absent. Spines not all similar in shape. The atypical spines are hook-shaped. Arm spine cross section round. The ratio of thickness of distal ⅓ of arm spine to maximum thickness (in a given cross-sectional plane) 0.6–0.9. Arm spines pointed; mainly lateral; predominantly erect, standing perpendicular to arm axis. Longest arm spines between one and two segments long. Tentacle scales present; pores visible along most of the arm; nearly as long as wide; shorter than the spine nearby; cross section oval. Position of lateral arm plate (LAP) arched (wrapped around the arm). Dorsal and/or ventral edge(s) of LAPs with constriction. Ventral position of LAP projecting ventro-proximalwards. Ventro-distal tip of LAP not projecting ventralwards. Arm spine articulation with dorsal and ventral lobes; without sigmoidal fold; arranged over entire distal LAP edge; larger in middle of arm. Distance between spine articulations dorsalwards increasing. Nerve and muscle openings separated by small ridge if at all. Nerve opening approximately as large as muscle opening.

DORSAL DISC. Disc circular; flat (about same level as arms). Integument not obscuring plates. Dorsal disc with granules; with obvious primary plates; with scales; with spines. Dorsal disc scale/plate with tubercles. Radial shield present; with granules and with tubercles grown out of plate; length between one third and half of the disc radius; scalene (oblique) triangular.

VENTRAL DISC. Gonads restricted to the disc. Ventral interradii with spines. Scales on ventral interradii absent. Ventral teeth single. Infradental papillae on oral plate present. Buccal scales on OP present. Accessory oral papillae on OP absent. Lateral oral papillae on OP absent. Adoral shield spine present. Lyman’s ossicle present. Oral shield covering less than one third of interradius; much wider than long. Madreporite one; with one pore. Adoral shield meeting in front of the oral shield. Abradial genital plate not twisted. Number of genital slits one per bursa. Genital slit longer than half the length of an interradius. Genital papillae absent. Dental plate ventral half widest; entire (single plate). Dental sockets circular; equal to or more than 50% of the width. At least one socket on DP as perforation with septum. Teeth block-like (with square tip). Teeth on DP arranged as a single row on ⅔ and a cluster of tooth papillae on ⅓ of dental plate.

VERTEBRAE. Vertebrae zygospondylous; beyond segment 5 with extended keel; without oral bridge.