Description of three species of ophioplinthacids, including a new species, from a deep seamount in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

PeerJ

article

Wanying Chen¹  Jieying Na¹  Dongsheng Zhang¹ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources;Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory;School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

关键词: Ophioplinthaca;    New species;    Taxonomy;    Seamount;    The Northwest Pacific;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.11566

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Five specimens of brittle star were collected from a deep-sea seamount in the Northwest Pacific, and identified into three species. One which is new to science, Ophioplinthaca grandisquama n. sp., can be easily distinguished from its congeners by the distinctly elongated and stout tentacle scales, stout and long disc spines, capitate with typically elongate to flaring head bearing numerous distinct thorns, radial shields roughly triangular and contiguous distally. One specimen was identified as Ophioplinthaca semele (Clark, 1949), which had been reported in Hawaii seamounts, is a new record of this species in the Northwest Pacific. The remaining specimen was an unknown species of Ophioplinthaca, with some different characteristics from other species of Ophioplinthaca. However, we, herein, prefer not to attach a name to this specimen until more morphological characteristics are available. The finding of this new species and two new records further enriches the distribution of Ophioplinthaca in the seamount of Northwest Pacific, providing useful information for marine protection in the cobalt-rich area.

【 授权许可】

CC BY