Ophiactis asperula Philippi 1858

Ophiactis asperula (Philippi, 1858)

Ophiolepis asperula Philippi, 1858: 267.

Ophiactis magellanica Ljungman, 1866: 164 [synonymised by Lyman, 1882].

Ophiactis asperula.— Lyman, 1879: 41.— Lyman, 1882: 116.— Studer, 1882: 18.— Koehler, 1907: 310.— Koehler, 1908: 272.— Koehler, 1914: 40.— Clark, H.L., 1915a: 259, pl. 10(11–12).— Clark, H.L., 1918: 310.— Koehler, 1922: pl. 81(8– 9).— Mortensen, 1936: 262 –264.— Mortensen, 1952: 15 –16.— Bernasconi, 1965: 152.— Castillo-Alarcón, 1968: 41 –43, fig. P, pl. 2(1,9).— Bernasconi & d'Agostino, 1977: 104 –107, pl. 9(1,4).— Lucchi, 1985: 132, fig. 12,45–46.— Tommasi et al., 1988: 6.— Jaramillo, 2008: 118 –121.

Ophiactis amator.— Bernasconi & d'Agostino, 1974: 129 –130, pl. 11(3–4) [Non Ophiactis amator Koehler, 1922].

Material examined. Petermann Island, 65° 11´S, 64° 10´W, 200 m, 1968, identified by Bernasconi & d'Agostino (1974) as Ophiactis amator (MACN 27637, 2). Bahía Esperanza, 63° 24´S, 56° 59´W, 200 m, 1967, identified by Bernasconi & d'Agostino (1974) as Ophiactis amator (MACN 27638, 1).

Distribution. Southern America, Chile (north to 41°S), Argentina and Uruguay (north to 35°S), Malvinas / Falkland Islands, Burdwood Bank, Shag Rock,?western Antarctic Peninsula, 0– 575 m.

Remarks. Bernasconi & d'Agostino (1974) recorded three specimens from the western Antarctic Peninsula as Ophiactis amator Koehler, 1922. However, these specimens (7–8 mm d.d.) have 5–6 arm spines and relatively wide oral shields (> 2 times wider than long) compared with O. amator with up to 4 arm spines and oral shields <= 2 times wider than long. In this respect, the western Antarctic Peninsula specimens are much more similar to Ophiactis asperula, which is common around the southern coasts of South America. Bernasconi & d'Agostino (1974) did not compare the two species. Possibly these animals represent ephemeral populations of O. asperula on the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula or mistaken locality records as no other Ophiactis has been taken from that area before or since.

Records of any Ophiactis species from Antarctic waters are very rare, the only other example being Koehler’s (1922) paratype of O. amator collected from the coast of eastern Antarctica at 280 m depth. However, the collection locality for this record is also dubious, as all other specimens of O. amator have been found at lower bathyal depths (1750–3500 m) around south-eastern Australia and New Zealand (O’Hara et al. 2014). The holotype of O. amator was collected from 1300 fathoms (2337 m) off Maria Island, Tasmania (see Koehler 1922, page 86), not the 300 fathoms (540 m) mis-printed under the species description (page 34).