Ophiactis abyssicola

Ophiactis abyssicola (Sars, 1861) Reports for the Azores:

Ophiactis corallicola Koehler, 1895 — $ Koehler 1896a: 208, 1898: 46, 1906b: 272–273, 1909: 170, pl. 1, fig. 11, pl. 7, figs. 4–5, 1921a: 3;

Ophiactis abyssicola (Sars, 1861) — $ Koehler 1896a: 208, 1896b: 243, 1898: 46–48, pl. 5, fig. 17, pl. 6, fig. 18, 1909: 169; Mortensen 1927a: 202–203, fig. 114; Grieg 1932: 36–37; Marques 1980: 101; García-Diez et al. 2005: 48; $ St̂hr & Segonzac 2005: 386; $ Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 102–104, figs. 17C–E;

Ophiactis echinata $ Koehler, 1898: 48–49, pl. 5, figs. 15–16; Mortensen 1927a: 199; Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972: 402.

Type locality: Norway.

See: Sars (1861: 18–20, pl. 2, figs. 7–12, as Amphiura abyssicola); Paterson (1985: 76–78, fig. 32).

Occurrence: cosmopolitan, present in both Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; in the Atlantic from the Davis Strait, off Iceland and Scandinavian waters to Southern Africa (Mortensen 1933a, b), including the archipelagos of the Azores, Canaries and Cape Verde; reported elsewhere off Tristan da Cunha (Lyman 1882).

Depth: 118– 4,721 m (Martynov & Litvinova 2008); AZO: 726– 1,998 m (Koehler 1909, St̂hr & Segonzac 2005).

Habitat: soft bottoms, ooze, fine sand, gravel and shells to rock, among sponges, gorgonians and other sessile fauna (Farran 1913, St̂hr & Segonzac 2005).

Remarks: Ophiactis abyssicola is a highly variable species which is reflected by its numerous synonyms. In the Azores alone, this species was reported under three different names. For example, Koehler (1898) described O. echinata based on a single specimen collected by Hirondelle in the Azores (sta 198: 38°26’25”N, 28°38’56”W, 800 m). Later authors such as H.L. Clark (1918) and Mortensen (1927a, 1933a) believed that this species was a juvenile of O. abyssicola. See also remarks under O. canotia Lyman, 1879 and O. nidarosiensis Mortensen, 1920.