Ophiacantha mesembria H.L. Clark, 1915

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 : 35

Ophiacantha mesembria H.L. Clark, 1915

Reports for the Azores:

Ophiacantha pentagona armata $ Koehler, 1898: 55–56 ;

Ophiacantha mesembria H.L. Clark, 1915 — Koehler 1922: 60–61; Mortensen 1927a: 188.

Type locality: off Santa Cruz ( Virgin Islands, Caribbean) .

See: H.L. Clark (1915: 201–202); Benavides-Serrato et al. (2011: 248–249).

Occurrence: Northwest Atlantic, known from the Caribbean islands and Gulf of Mexico ( Benavides-Serrato et al. 2011) eastwards to the Azores ( Koehler 1922) and?Madeira ( Jesus & Abreu 1998).

Depth: 256– 2,870 m (H.L. Clark 1915, Koeheler 1898); AZO : 2,870 m (Koeheler 1898).

Habitat: soft sediments (clayish sand; Koehler 1898).

Remarks: Koehler (1898) examined two specimens collected by Hirondelle in Azorean waters, which he placed in a variety armata of O. pentagona , a species described from the Pacific Ocean. Later, Koehler (1922) changed his previous identification of the Hirondelle material, and placed them under the Caribbean O. mesembria , extending its geographical distribution to the Mid-Atlantic and its vertical distribution from 1,143 m to 2,870 m. This species may also occur at Madeira Archipelago ( Jesus & Abreu 1998, as Ophiacantha cf. mesembria ).