Ophiopholis aculeata ? (Linnaeus 1767

Ophiopholis aculeata ? (Linnaeus, 1767) Reports for the Azores:

Ophiopholis bellis (Fleming, 1828) —? $ Lyman 1865: 14, 96–99, pl. 1, figs. 4–6;

Ophiopholis aculeata (Linnaeus, 1767) —? $ H.L. Clark 1915: 267.

See: Mortensen (1927a: 204–206, figs. 88.5, 116); Serafy (1971); Picton (1993: 44).

Occurrence: circumboreal Arctic; in the Atlantic, from the arctic waters southwards to Cape Hatteras in the West Atlantic and to the English Channel in the east (Serafy 1971).

Depth: 0–300 m, exceptionally 1,000 m (Serafy 1971); AZO:?.

Habitat: eurytopic; frequently found in crevices and borings in the rock or in association with sponges (Tyler et al. 2005).

Larval stage: planktotrophic (Mortensen 1927a).

Remarks: Lyman (1865) remarked that he identified a specimen of Ophiopholis aculeata (= Ophiopholis bellis) from Faial Island in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard University). However, when he presented the specimens list (p. 99) he added a question mark after ‘Fayal’, as if he had some doubts about the provenance of the material or his identification. Unfortunately, Lyman did not give any further details about its origin, omitting the depth, collector or date. Later, H.L. Clark (1915) listed the material present in the Harvard collection, including the material from the Azores previously analysed by Lyman, yet did not express any concerns, nor gave any further details. This circumpolar cold-water species was never (re)collected in the archipelago waters, and thus the inclusion of this species in the Azorean fauna should be considered with caution.