Amphipholis squamata (DELLE CHIAJE, 1828) complex

(UF-6449, KU594365)

Material. 1 spm, St. 5; 27 spms, St. 8; 20 spms, St. 9 & 7 spms, St. 10

Remarks. Amphipholis is currently composed of 26 recognized species. A. squamata is a tiny organism (DD<5mm) and the only one in the genus with a worldwide. Distribution. The specimens collected at Réunion concur well with the diagnosis showing joint radial shields of about one third of disc radius, scale-like distal oral papillae and 3 to 4 arm spines on each segment. A. squamata was revealed to be a species complex comprising numerous cryptic lineages (Sponer 2002; Boissin et al. 2008a). Specimens from Réunion are cream coloured, sometimes with a pale brown disc, and belong to the tropical lineage E (Boissin 2008). They were collected from under rocks and among coral rubble, commonly along the arms of Ophiocoma species. This association has also been noticed at Mer Island (Torres Strait), Hawaii and French Polynesia (Devaney 1974). Abundance: 3.

Distribution. A cosmopolitan species complex known from all oceans except polar ones, from shore to 1300 m (Gage et al. 1983). The species was already recorded from Rodrigues (Rowe & Richmond 2004) and Réunion (Stöhr et al. 2008).