Ophiocten hastatum $ Lyman 1878

Ophiocten hastatum Lyman, 1878 Reports for the Azores:

Ophiocten hastatum $ Lyman, 1878: 103, pl. 5, figs. 133–134, 1882: 82–83, pl. 9, figs. 10–11; $ Koehler 1898: 42–44, 73, pl. 7, figs. 32, 33, 1909: 165; Mortensen 1927a: 246; $ Paterson et al. 1982: 117–119, fig. 5; Paterson 1985: 129, fig. 49; Gage et al. 2004: 849–864, figs. 1–84; García-Diez et al. 2005: 49; $ Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 83, fig. 3C; Smirnov et al. 2014: 202–203;

Ophiocten longispinum $ Koehler, 1896a: 204–205;

Ophiura hastata (Lyman, 1878) — Guille 1982: 80, figs. 5, 6, 7a–b.

Type locality: off Marion Island, Southern Ocean (46°46’S, 45° 31’E).

See: Lyman (1878); Paterson et al. (1982); Guille (1982); Martynov & Litvinova (2008).

Occurrence: cosmopolitan, found in the Atlantic, Southern, and Pacific Oceans (Guille 1982); in the Atlantic from Labrador basin east in the Rockall Trough south to the Bay of Biscay (Paterson 1985), including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from Reykjanes Ridge south to the Azores (Martynov & Litvinova 2008); with exception of the reports for the Labrador Basin, all other records from the West Atlantic are misidentifications of O. gracilis (Paterson et al. 1982).

Depth: 843– 4,700 m (Grieg 1932, Guille 1982); AZO: 1,830 –2,107 m (Lyman 1878, Martynov & Litvinova 2008).

Habitat: soft bottoms, muddy sand to ooze (Koehler 1909); opportunistic (Gage et al. 2004).

Larval stage: planktotrophic (Gage et al. 2004).

Remarks: Lyman (1878, 1882) described Ophiocten hastatum on the basis of material taken by H.M.S. Challenger in Southern Ocean deep waters. Lyman (1878, 1882) also found two specimens of this species among the material collected by the same cruise in Azorean waters (sta 78: 37°24’N, 25°13’W, 1,830 m). Koehler (1896a) described a new species Ophiocten longispinum from the material collected by Hirondelle in the Azores (sta 184: 40°05’N, 27°27’46”W, 1,850 m). Later, Koehler (1898) recanted his previous identification, changing it to O. hastatum and completed Lyman’s original description of this species using Hirondelle material from the archipelago. Koehler (1909) also identified this species at several Princesse Alice stations located inside Azorean waters. More recently, Martynov & Litvinova (2008) identified this species in Azorean northern waters (G.O. Sars, MAR–ECO cruise, sta 42/368: 42°48’N, 29°38’W, 2,063 –2,107 m).