Ophiocnida hispida (Le Conte, 1851)

Granja-Fernandez, Rebeca, Herrero-Perezrul, Maria D., Lopez-Perez, Ramon A., Hernandez, Luis, Rodriguez-Zaragoza, Fabian A., Jones, Robert Wallace & Pineda-Lopez, Ruben, 2014, Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific, ZooKeys 406, pp. 101-145 : 105-107

Ophiocnida hispida (Le Conte, 1851) Figure 1 A–F

Description.

Disk rounded (dd = 6 to 7.6 mm) and covered with imbricated scales bearing pointed scattered spines. Radial shields narrow and separated by a row of scales which are larger than those of the disk (Fig. 1D).Ventral interradius with smaller imbricated scales and bearing scattered spines (Fig. 1E). Oral shields diamond shaped, with rounded angles. Adoral shields triangular and not meeting within. Three papillae on each side of the jaw; two outer ones rounded and the innermost one being the largest. The madreporite is evident (Fig. 1F). Dorsal arm plates wider than long, with the corners rounded (Fig. 1B). Ventral arm plates rectangular, wider than long; outer and inner sides slightly curved. Three blunt, cylindrical and short arm spines of nearly equal length. Two small tentacle scales forming a right angle to each other (Fig. 1C). Color of the disk brown (Fig. 1A); the color in the ventral side of the disk is straw-brown (Fig. 1E). Arms straw colored with irregular transversal lines (Fig. 1B). Madreporite with a lighter color (Fig. 1F).

Distribution.

From USA (California) to Panama ( McClendon 1909, Alvarado et al. 2010). In Mexico, from the Gulf of California (Baja California Sur, Sonora), Guerrero and Oaxaca ( Solís-Marín et al. 2005, Honey-Escandón et al. 2008, Granja-Fernández and López-Pérez 2012). Depth 0-794 m ( Maluf 1988). In this study, Ophiocnida hispida was collected in coral reefs from Jalisco and Oaxaca at 9.1 m depth.

Remarks.

There are five species of the genus Ophiocnida world-wide (including Ophiocnida hispida ): Ophiocnida loveni (Ljungman, 1867), Ophiocnida scabra Lyman, 1879, Ophiocnida scabriuscula ( Lütken, 1859) and Ophiocnida californica Ziesenhenne, 1940 ( Stöhr and O’Hara 2013). Ophiocnida hispida and Ophiocnida californica are the only species reported from the Eastern Pacific; but Ophiocnida californica is confined to the Gulf of California. Ziesenhenne (1940) reports that both species can be distinguished by the size of the oral shields, with radial shields in contact for half of their length, the divided dorsal arm plates in Ophiocnida californica , and the arm length which is five times the disk diameter in Ophiocnida californica and eight to ten in Ophiocnida hispida . In the present study, Ophiocnida hispida was found buried exclusively in sand while other species of the genus, Ophiocnida scabriuscula and Ophiocnida loveni were reported from seagrass habitats, calcareous algae or under rocks ( Hendler et al. 1995, de Barros-Lima and Banja-Fernandes 2009). Ophiocnida hispida is hard to manipulate because it can autotomize both the disk and the arms very easily. Koehler (1907) indicates that Ophiocnida scabriuscula can regenerate their disk and possess typical spines and radial shields of the genus. Future studies must be carried out to elucidate if this capability and morphology are shared with other members of the genus Ophiocnida , such as Ophiocnida hispida . The record of Ophiocnida hispida is new for Jalisco.

Collected material.

JALISCO:Cuastecomatito (1 specimen, sand, 30/09/2010, ICML-UNAM 10334).

OAXACA:La Mina (4 specimens, sand, 17/04/2008, MHN 005-4351); Órgano (2 specimens, sand, 08/08/2011, ICML-UNAM 10428); Copalita (1 specimen, sand, 9.1 m, 18/05/2012, ICML-UNAM 10526).