Deep-water Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from off Chile in the Eastern South Pacific

Abstract

The ophiuroids collected during the Oceanographic Expedition PUCK (SONNE-156) in 2001, in the framework of the project "Interactions between productivity and environment along the Chilean continental shelf" were analyzed. Eight samples had ophiuroids; Fifteen species were distributed in the following families: Gorgonocephalidae (2), Asteronychidae (2), Ophiomyxidae (1), Ophiacanthidae (2), Ophiuridae (5), Amphiuridae (1), and Ophiolepididae (2). Four species were recorded for the first time from Chilean waters, i.e., Asteronyx loveni Müller & Troschel, Astrodia tenuispina Verrill, Ophiolimna bairdi (Lyman), and Ophiocten amitinum Lyman, and three are new, i.e., Ophiura (Ophiuroglypha) arntzi sp. nov., Amphiophiura gallardoi sp. nov., and Stegophiura wilhelmi sp. nov.

The evolutionary relationship between arm vertebrae shape and ecological lifestyle in brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea)

“…Based on Figure 5, higher PC1 scores correspond to proximal vertebrae that are shorter in length but higher in overall shape, and longer at the ventro-proximal, distal (Figure 4a). In addition, the distal vertebrae in A. loveni, widely reported as a prehensile species (Fujita & Ohta, 1988;Manso, 2010), are also similar to the proximal vertebrae of Ophiothrix savignyi (Figure 4a). This similarity in PC1 scores shows the morphological Each line color on the phylogenetic PCA plot c represents the following phylogenetic clades (order): Green, Amphilepidida; Blue, Ophiacanthida; Purple, Ophiurida; and Black, Euryalida middle groove (landmarks 17, 18, and 20).…”

A new cryptic species of Asteronyx Müller and Troschel, 1842 (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea), based on molecular phylogeny and morphology, from off Pacific Coast of Japan

“…L. Clark, 1941;Djakonov, 1954;Chang et al, 1962Chang et al, , 1964A. M. Clark and Courtman-Stock, 1976;Baker, 1980;Paterson, 1985;Irimura, 1991;Liao and A. M. Clark, 1995;Fujita and Ohta, 1988;McKnight, 2000;Stöhr, 2005;Manso, 2010;Okanishi et al, 2011). On the other hand, Lineage 1 lacks mesh-like thickened skin, and external characters match with those of syntypes of A. loveni…”

New record of the basket star Gorgonocephalus eucnemis (Ophiuroidea: Gorgonocephalidae) at the Pacific coast of Mexico

“…Recent surveys of the fish and invertebrate faunas of Guadalupe Island (Reyes Bonilla et al, 2009, 2010, have shown that many species present at Guadalupe Island also occur near the Baja California Peninsula, at similar or even lower latitudes than Guadalupe. From these observations we suggest that it is feasible that G. eucnemis also follows the mentioned pattern and it may have resident populations in deep waters somewhere close to the mainland.…”

“…There are 10 valid species of this genus distributed worldwide , three of which are present in the eastern Pacific: Gorgonocephalus diomedeae Lütken & Mortensen, 1899, only found in Panama (Lütken & Mortensen, 1899); Gorgonocephalus chilensis (Philippi, 1858) from Chile (Manso, 2010); and Gorgonocephalus eucnemis (Müller & Troschel, 1842). The latter is a boreal species resident of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; in the Pacific region it occurs in the East Siberian Sea, Laptev Sea, Chukchi Sea, Okhotsk Sea and Sea of Japan, and in the eastern margin it can be found from the Bering Sea to California, at depths from 8-1850 m (Hendler, 1996;Lambert & Austin, 2007).…”