Asteroschema inornatum Koehler 1906

Asteroschema inornatum Koehler, 1906a Reports for the Azores:

Asteroschema inornatum Koehler, 1906 — $ Koehler 1909: 205, pl. 7, fig. 1, 1921a: 2; A.H. Clark 1948: 78; Paterson 1985: 16, fig. 10; García–Diez et al. 2005: 48; $ St̂hr & Segonzac 2005: 386; Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 78–79, fig. 1B; Smirnov et al. 2014: 194.

Type locality: Bay of Biscay.

See: Koehler (1906a: 30–31, pl. 3, figs. 45, 47; 1921a); Paterson (1985).

Occurrence: North Atlantic deep waters, from off Nova Scotia and the Reykjanes Ridge (S of Iceland) on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, south of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone to the Azores and from the Rockall Trough south of the Bay of Biscay to Madeira (Koehler 1921 a, Martynov & Litvinova 2008).

Depth: 1,300 –2,300 m (St̂hr & Segonzac 2005, Martynov & Litvinova 2008); AZO: 1,478 –2,300 m (Koehler 1909, St̂hr & Segonzac 2005).

Habitat: found in association with gorgonians (Gage et al. 1983).

Remarks: Simroth (1888) reported a small young euryalid collected in the Azores. Only two species belonging to the order Euryalida are known from the archipelago, Astroschema inornatum and Astrodia tenuispina, both known from Azorean waters well below 1,000 m. Aside from the small size of the specimen, Simroth (1888) presented no further details and we have no knowledge where this animal could be housed. Nevertheless, Koehler (1909, 1921a) and more recently St̂hr & Segonzac (2005) collected material belonging to Asteroschema inornatum in the archipelago, thus confirming this species’ presence in the Azores.