Published March 21, 2018 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Ophiobyrsidae Matsumoto 1915

Description

Family Ophiobyrsidae Matsumoto, 1915 stat. nov. (raised to family-rank)

Type genus

Ophiobyrsa Lyman, 1878a (type species: O. rudis Lyman, 1878a).

Other genera

Ophiobyrsella Verrill, 1899b, Ophiosmilax Matsumoto, 1915, Ophiophrixus H.L. Clark, 1911.

Diagnosis

Disc and arms covered by thickened skin bearing pointed spines, large radial shields. Vertebrae with hourglass-shaped articulation. Multiple columns of spiniform teeth on round, knob-like sockets, not perforating the dental plate. Ventral tooth cluster. Spine articulation asymmetrical with large, swollen dorsal lobe and small,indistinct ventral lobe. No sigmoidal fold. Lateral arm plates without ornamentation.

Remarks

New molecular data indicates that the genera Ophiobyrsa, Ophiophrixus and Ophiosmilax form a clade that is sister to all remaining ophiacanthid families. Consequently, the former subfamily Ophiobyrsinae Matsumoto, 1915 is raised to family-level rank.

Notes

Published as part of Stöhr, Sabine, Hugall, Andrew F., Thuy, Ben & Martynov, Alexander, 2018, Morphological diagnoses of higher taxa in Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) in support of a new classification, pp. 1-35 in European Journal of Taxonomy 416 on page 12, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2018.416, http://zenodo.org/record/3806109

Files

Files (1.4 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:857dc210126a8969cd98121683b221f2
1.4 kB Download

System files (11.0 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:742b89c8db146ea0353e4858a3294c08
11.0 kB Download

Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

References

  • Matsumoto H. 1915. A new classification of the Ophiuroidea: with descriptions of new genera and species. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 67: 43 - 92.
  • Lyman T. 1878 a. Ophiuridae and Astrophytidae of the " Challenger " expedition. Part I. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard 5: 65 - 168.
  • Verrill A. E. 1899 b. North American Ophiuroidea. I. - Revision of certain families and genera of West Indian Ophiurans. II. - A faunal catalogue of the known species of West Indian Ophiurans. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy 10: 301 - 386.
  • Clark H. L. 1911. North Pacific Ophiurans in the collection of the United States National Museum. Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 75: 1 - 302.