First record of brittle star from Indian waters

Ophiomoeris obstricta

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Ophiuroidea Gray, 1840

Order: Ophiacanthida O’Hara, Hugall, Thuy, Stöhr & Martynov, 2017

Family: Ophiacanthidae Ljungman, 1867

Ophiomoeris obstricta (Lyman, 1878)

Collection: Kavaratti Island — Seawater tank of NIOT Desalination Plant, collecting water from ~350m depth (10° 34.44’ N, 72° 38.40’ E), coll. M. Nowshad on 12.12.2019.

Voucher No.: CMLRE IO/SS/ECD/00234, 00235

Description: Disc deeply incised with large, petal-like radial shields and bearing rounded conical granules on the disc scales.  

Biological association: The specimens were found attached to an unidentified gorgonian.

Remarks: None.

Distribution: Madagascar, Comoros, Maldives, India (Lakshadweep), Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Philippines, Vanuatu, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii; 35-1100m

Distribution map:

 

Identified by: Usha V. Parameswaran

Publication: Parameswaran U. V., Mohammed Noushad B., Dixit S., Hashim M., Idrees Babu K. K., Saravanane N. 2020. New records of brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the Lakshadweep atolls, northern Indian Ocean, with notes on Indophioderma ganapatii Sastry, Marimuthu & Rajan, 2019. Zootaxa, 4809(3):560-570. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4809.3.9.

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