Amphipholis pugetana (Lyman, 1860)

Fig. 16G‒L

Amphiura pugetana Lyman, 1860: 193‒194.

Amphipholis pugetana. H.L. Clark 1911: 166‒167.— Nielsen 1932: 281, 288‒290.— Fell 1962: 13, 24.— Lambert & Austin 2007: 102‒104, figs. 55‒56.— Boolotian & Leighton 1966: 5, 9, fig. 9.— Hendler 1996: 140‒142, fig. 7.9.

Axiognatus pugetana. Kyte 1969a: 1728, 1735, 1737.

See Hendler (1996) for other synonymous records.

Material examined. 132 individuals at five stations. TALUD X, Sta. 4, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-11162-A) and 16 ind. (ICML-EMU-11162-B). TALUD XIV, Sta. 15, 57 ind. (ICML-EMU-11163), 5 ind. (ICML-EMU-11164), and 28 ind. (ICML-EMU-11164-A); Sta. 20, 5 ind. (ICML-EMU-11164-B). TALUD XV, Sta. 20, 1 ind. (ICML-EMU-11165) and 2 ind. (ICML-EMU-12994); Sta. 23, 17 ind. (ICML-EMU-11166).

Comparative material. None available. According to Lyman (1860), the type series of A. pugetana was deposited at the USNM, but this material has not been located in this collection or in any other collection (i.e., LACM, MCZ, NHMD; pers. comm. Tom Schiøtte & Penny Benson, 2016) and is probably lost.

Description (ICML-EMU-11163). DD = 4 mm. Disc pentagonal. Dorsal disc covered by imbricated scales. Primary plates not evident. RS elongated half-circular, contiguous but with 1‒2 scales inserted proximally (Fig. 16G). Ventral interradii covered by scales smaller than dorsal disc (Fig. 16H). OSh as broad as long, spearhead-shaped. Madreporite slightly larger than OSh. AdSh triangular, meeting in front of OSh. Jaws bearing three oral papillae at each side; AdShSp twice as wide as high, rounded rectangular, the largest; 2AdShSp rounded; IPa quadrangular. vT quadrangular (Fig. 16I). Arms slender. DAP fan-shaped, as long as wide, separated (Fig. 16J). VAP longer than broad, pentagonal, slightly separated from each other. LAP with up to three ArSp, elongated (approximately two arm segments in length), pointed, middle one often much longer and swollen at the tip. Tentacle pores with two TSc, abradial larger (Fig. 16K). Color pattern dorsally and ventrally beige-whitish (ethanol preservation) (Fig. 16G‒L).

Habitat and distribution. Alaska, British Columbia, Canada, Washington, and California, USA, and Mexico; 15‒ 871 m depth, possibly to 1,620 m (H.L. Clark 1911; Hendler 1996; Lambert & Austin 2007; Granja-Fernández et al. 2015, 2021; See Remarks), buried in sand and mud (Maluf 1988). The material examined was collected off western Baja California Sur and in the northern Gulf of California; 410‒871 m depth. Some specimens were attached to a log.

Remarks. We could not compare our material with the type material (presumably lost), but its morphology is consistent with previous species descriptions (e.g., Lyman 1860; Hendler 1996). Previously recorded from shallow water and as deep as 604 m, and possibly to 1,620 m (Hendler 1996). Our finding of the species at 871 m depth corresponds to the deepest confirmed record to date.