Ophioplinthus tessellata

Ophioplinthus tessellata (Verrill, 1894) Reports for the Azores:

Ophioglypha tessellata Verrill, 1894 — $ Koehler 1896a: 203–204, 1898: 37–40, pl. 7, figs. 34, 36, 1909: 156–157, pl. 25, figs. 12–13, pl. 27, figs. 5–6;

Homalophiura tesselata (Verrill, 1894) — Mortensen 1927a: 231, 1933a: 91–92, pl. 3, fig. 17; $ Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972: 408–409;

Ophiura tessellata Verrill, 1894 — Grieg 1932: 33;

Homophiura tessellata (Verrill, 1894) — Paterson 1985: 137–138, fig. 52; García-Diez et al. 2005: 49; Smirnov et al. 2014: 202;

Ophioplinthus tessellata (Verrill, 1894) — Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 83–88, figs. 4A, C, 5A–C.

Type locality: east coast of North America, between 39°35’N and 41°47’N.

See: Verrill (1894: 290–293, as Ophioglypha tessellata); Paterson (1985); Martynov & Litvinova (2008).

Occurrence: North Atlantic, from Greenland (Cherbonnier & Sibuet 1972) to south of Block Island (off the coast of Rhode Island; Paterson 1985), eastwards from south of Iceland (Mortensen 1933a), in European waters south to Cape Verde, and along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south to the Azores (Koehler 1909, Martynov & Litvinova 2008).

Depth: 433– 4,706 m (Smirnov et al. 2014); AZO: 1,919 –2,870 m (Koehler 1896b, 1909).

Habitat: soft substrates (Koehler 1909).

Larval stage: lecithotrophic (Kasyanov et al. 1998).

Remarks: Koehler (1906b, 1909) reported O. tessellata in the Azores (Talisman, sta 248: 41°40'41"N, 26°44'09"W, 2870 m; Princesse Alice, sta 738: 37°40'N, 26°26'15"W, 1919 m). Later, Cherbonnier & Sibuet (1977) also recorded this relatively large species in the area (Noratlante, sta P65B10: 36°58'02"N, 26°20'W, 2870 m). No other material was reported in the Azores.