Nine new records of brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from Indian waters

ABSTRACT

This paper presents nine new records of brittle stars for the Indian waters, collected between 49 and 957 m depths in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Of these, Ophiolepis cardioplax and Ophiopsammus aequalis are being reported for the first time from the Indian Ocean, while Astrothorax waitei, Amphiophiura insolita, Ophialcaea tuberculosa and Ophioplocus declinans are new records for the northern Indian Ocean. Three other species – Amphiura (Amphiura) dejectoides, Amphiura (Amphiura) uncinata and Ophiopeza spinosa are recorded from nearby areas but are being reported for the first time from the Indian waters. Indophioderma ganapatii, described from Agatti Island, Lakshadweep is synonymized with Ophiopeza spinosa. The nine species described in this paper include several that have not been adequately described in literature or have rarely been documented at all.

KEYWORDS:

• Echinoderms
• biodiversity
• India
• Arabian Sea
• Bay of Bengal
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article itself.

Acknowledgements

The support and encouragement provided by the current and former Directors of CMLRE are gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank The Director (National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai) and Dr Dharani G. (Head, Department of Biotechnology, NIOT) for providing access to the SEM facility, and Mr Karuppasamy M. (NIOT) for technical support. The authors also thank the Vessel Management team at CMLRE, as well as members scientific teams of FORV Sagar Sampada cruises for their support during sampling. This is CMLRE contribution No. 142.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was carried out under the Marine Living Resources Programme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India.