Ophiocoma

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Ophiocoma
Ophiocomidae - Ophiocoma scolopendrina.jpg

Ophiocoma

Systematics
Trunk : Echinoderms (Echinodermata)
Class : Brittle stars (Ophiuroidea)
Order : Ophiurida
Subordination : Gnathophiurina
Family : Ophiocomidae
Genre : Ophiocoma
Scientific name
Ophiocoma
L. Agassiz , 1836

Ophiocoma are a genus of brittle stars in the Ophiocomidae family. The species are difficult to distinguish because their characteristics are difficult toassess and can change as they grow. Some species also change color from day to night. The species are distributed across the Indo-Pacific .

features

Ophiocoma are predominantly large species that can reach central disc diameters of more than 20 mm. The disc is usually covered with granules that occasionally hide the scales and sometimes extend into the ventral , interradial areas. The large oral shields are without granules or spines, with three to four, rarely five, contiguous oral papillae. Dental papillae are always present; the superficial ones are in line with the oral papillae. There are three to seven, generally smooth, strong arm spines on the limbs, sometimes alternating three and four on successive segments or on opposite sides of the same segment. The dorsal arm plates are wider than long, fan-shaped, oval or hexagonal, the ventral arm plates are more or less square. At least two tentacle scales on the first arm segments, sometimes only one towards the tip.

Systematics

Ophiocoma is according to O'Hara et al. polyphyletic and needs revision. According to WoRMS, the genus includes 7 species:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jennifer M. Olbers, Yves Samyn: The Ophiocoma species (Ophiurida: Ophiocoma) of South Africa. In: Western Indian Ocean Journal for Marine Science 10, 2012, p. 140. ( Online )
  2. ↑ Timothy D. O'Hara, Sabine Stöhr, Andrew F. Hugall, Ben Thuy, Alexander Martynov: Morphological diagnoses of higher taxa in Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) in support of a new classification. In: European Journal of Taxonomy 416, 2018, p. 16. ( Online )
  3. ↑ Ophiocoma at World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS)

Web links

Commons : Ophiocoma  - collection of images, videos and audio files