WoRMS taxon details
Ophiura albida Forbes, 1839
AphiaID: 124913
AphiaID: 124913
| Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Echinodermata (Phylum) > Asterozoa (Subphylum) > Ophiuroidea (Class) > Ophiurida (Order) > Ophiurina (Suborder) > Chilophiurina (Infraorder) > Ophiuridae (Family) > Ophiurinae (Subfamily) > Ophiura (Genus) |
| Status | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record status | Checked by Taxonomic Editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Species | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Ophiura Lamarck, 1801 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonymised taxa |
Ophioglypha albida (Forbes, 1839) Ophiura albida var. tuberculosa Mortensen, 1933 (synonymized) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources |
original description: Forbes, E. 1839. On the Asteriadae of the Irish Sea. Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, 8, 1-114. [details] basis of record: Hansson, H.G. (2001). Echinodermata, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 336-351 (look up in IMIS) [details] additional source: Southward, E.C.; Campbell, A.C. (2006). [Echinoderms: keys and notes for the identification of British species]. Synopses of the British fauna (new series), 56. Field Studies Council: Shrewsbury, UK. ISBN 1-85153-269-2. 272 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] additional source: Muller, Y. (2004). Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory]. Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France. 307 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] additional source: North East Atlantic Taxa (look up in IMIS) [details] additional source: Dyntaxa (2013) Swedish Taxonomic Database. Accessed at www.dyntaxa.se [15-01-2013]., available online at http://www.dyntaxa.se [details] from synonym: Lyman, T. 1882. Report on the Opiuroidea. Report of the Scientific Results of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger 1873-76. Zoology, 5(1), 1-386. [details] [view taxon] from synonym: Mortensen, T. 1933. Ophiuroidea. The Danish Ingolf Expedition, 4(8), 1-121, pls 1-3. page(s): 78 [details] [view taxon] context source (Deepsea): Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), available online at http://www.iobis.org/ [details] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vernacular Names |
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| Direct child taxa [show all] | Variety Ophiura albida var. tuberculosa Mortensen, 1933 accepted as Ophiura albida Forbes, 1839 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | marine, brackish, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distribution | type locality: Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone (from synonym) [details] [view taxon] Azores [details] Azores Exclusive Economic Zone [details] Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone [details] Birkenfels (shipwreck) [details] British Isles [details] Calais [details] Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone [details] European waters (ERMS scope) [details] Faroe-Shetland Channel [details] French Exclusive Economic Zone [Atlantic part] [details] French Exclusive Economic Zone [Mediterranean part] [details] Greek Exclusive Economic Zone [details] Helgoland [details] Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone (from synonym) [details] [view taxon] Irish Exclusive economic Zone [details] Lossini [details] Mediterranean Sea [details] North Coast of Norway [details] North East Atlantic [details] North Sea [details] Oosterschelde [details] Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone [details] United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone [details] Wadden Sea [details] Wimereux [details] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Feedingtypes |
omnivore [details]
predator [details] scavenger [details] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Host of |
Thespesiopsyllus paradoxus (Sars G.O., 1913) (parasitic: ectoparasitic)
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| Links | BIOTIC Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland Marine Life Information Network - UK PlanktonNet Image To Barcode of Life (9 barcodes) To Biodiversity Heritage Library (110 publications) To Dyntaxa To Encyclopedia of Life To GenBank (4 nucleotides; 26 proteins) To Marine Species Identification Portal To PESI To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Echinodermata Collection To ITIS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes |
Biology: O. albida has separate sexes, external fertilization and pelagic larvae. The maximum age is estimated at 3 years. This shortlived species shows a relatively fast-growing strategy. O. albida may be particularly vulnerable to predation. It shows a high reproductive effort, thus maintaining the populations (Wolff, 1973; Fish & Fish, 1989; Gage, 1990). The species moves freely on the sediment (Mortensen, 1927). Small invertebrates, particularly polychaetes, bivalve mollucs and crustaceans, comprise the main food of Ophiura spp. There is evidence that scavenging and surface deposit feeding are also fairly frequent (Wolff, 1973; Warner, 1982; Fish & Fish, 1989). Young stages of trematodes and nematodes can be found in the body cavity of this brittle star (Mortensen, 1927). [details] Breeding: Ophiopluteus larva. Summer [details] Description: Brittle stars consist of a central disk clearly separated from the slender, very agile and very strong arms. Ophiura albida is very similar to Ophiura ophiura and can only be distinguished from this species by the absence of pores between the arm plates. The top is reddish to orange-brown; the bottom side is dirty white. [details] Distribution: In both periods Ophiura albida was widely spread across the Belgian part of the North Sea and was only absent in the eastern coastal zone. The species was found in relatively high densities (1976-1986 period: maximum 100 ind./m2; 1994-2001 period: maximum 900 ind./m2). [details] Distribution: From about 10 to more than 200 m depth, common on sand, muddy sand and fine gravel, all round the British Isles [details] Habitat: Ophiura albida prefers fine to coarse-grained sediments (median grain size 150-650 μm) without any preference for a particular median grain size. The species furthermore prefers sediments with a low to medium mud content (maximum 40%). [details] Habitat: O. albida lives in areas with a variety of sand and muddy sand deposits. [details] Morphology: O. albida has a disk with rather coarse scales. The diameter of the disk can be up to 15 mm. The arms are about four times the diameter of the disk. The dorsal and ventral arm plates have a convex outer edge. The mouth shield is small, approximately one-third of the disk radius. In contrast to O. texturata (q.v.) there are no pores present between the lower arm plates. The colour of the dorsal surface usually is reddish-brown, that of the radial shields whitish (Mortensen, 1927; Southward, 1972; Gage, 1990; Hayward & Ryland, 1990). [details] Publication date: 1838 [details] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Images |
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| LSID | urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:124913 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Edit history |
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[Taxonomic tree] [Distribution map] [Google] [Google scholar] [Google images] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citation: Stöhr, S.; Hansson, H. (2013). Ophiura albida Forbes, 1839. In: Stöhr, S., O’Hara, T. (Eds) (2013). World Ophiuroidea database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=124913 on 2013-05-24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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