Ophidiaster guildingi Gray 1840

Ophidiaster guildingi Gray 1840

Figure 18 A–D

This species was recognized as Ophidiaster based on the eight rows of papular rows present along each arm and confirmed as Ophidiaster guildingi based on the number of papular pores present in each papular area (10 to 15). It had a dark tan to yellow abactinal surface, with a white to lighter colored oral surface. This was a frequently encoun-

tered species throughout the several Okeanos Explorer surveys and was one of the few species observed feeding on both sponges and corals, although most observations were of the former.

Feeding Observations

Two different sponges were seen as prey items. One large, unidentified demosponge from south of Okeanos Ridge at 424 m was observed with one individual present on one of its lobe-like surfaces (Fig. 18A). A second observation on Stetson Mesa Terrace showed an individual with one arm in contact with a hemispherical sponge, possibly in the genus Geodia sp. (Fig. 18C). A further observation from south of Okeanos Ridge at 435 m showed an individual with its disk perched over the calyx of an unidentified cup coral, apparently feeding upon it (Fig. 18D).

These observations are the first of this species feeding and are among the first to show feeding in deep-sea ophidiasterids. Jangoux (1982) has summarized the prey items of several shallow-water ophidiasterid species with many of these species described as substrate film-feeders with one or two species described as feeding on encrusting organisms, or sponges.

Occurrence: Florida, off the coast of Georgia, Texas, Bermuda, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Belize, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Dominican Republic, Atlantic coast of Mexico (Quintana Roo), Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Antilles, Atlantic side of Panama, Ascension Island and Cape Verde Islands south to Annobon Island, Gulf of Guinea. 0– 445 m

Images Observed

South of Okeanos Ridge, Gulf of Mexico, 25.60547, -84.54973, 435 m EX1803_IMG_20180429T161419Z_ROVHD.jpg (cup corals)

South of Okeanos Ridge, Gulf of Mexico, 25.60861, -84.54895, 424 m EX1803_IMG_20180429T 211131 Z_ROVHD.jpg (large sponge)

South of Okeanos Ridge, Gulf of Mexico, 25.60506, -84.55012, 480 m EX1803_IMG_20180429T 150850 Z_ROVHD.jpg

Stetson Mesa Terrace, 31.594732, -79.102572, 445 m

EX1903L2_IMG_20190628T161824Z_ROVHD.jpg