Abstract
Hemipholis cordifera is the correct name for the only known Western Atlantic species of Hemipholis. Hemipholis elongata, a name which has been used in place of H. cordifera, is a nomen dubium that cannot unambiguously be assigned to any known species of brittle star. Evidence is presented that the genus Hemipholis presently comprises only H. cordifera and its geminate Eastern Pacific congener Hemipholis gracilis, and it is shown that the latter name has priority over Hemipholis affinis. Hemipholis gracilis and H. cordifera are illustrated and compared to show how mature individuals can be distinguished. However, small individuals of both species are extremely similar. The latitudinal distributions of H. cordifera and H. gracilis appear to be causally related to coastal water temperature, possibly in conjunction with divergent ocean currents, and the relatively broad range of H. cordifera compared to H. gracilis is attributed to its cold tolerance and to the influence of widespread warm-water boundary currents in the central Western Atlantic. As regards the two other congeners that have been described, Hemipholis wallichii is revealed to be a juvenile ophiuroid incertae sedis, and Hemipholis microdiscus was previously transferred to the Amphiuridae and assigned the nomen novum, Amphiura microdiscoida.References
Alvarado, J.J., Solís-Marin, F.A. & Ahearn, C.G. (2010) Echinoderm (Echinodermata) diversity in the Pacific Coast of Central America. Marine Biodiversity, 40, 45–56.
Blake, J.A. & Maciolek, N.J. (1987) A redescription of Polydora cornuta Bosc (Polychaeta: Spionidae) and designation of a neotype. Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington, 7, 11–15.
Bosc, L.A.G. (1802) Histoire naturelle des vers, contenant leur description et leurs moeurs; avec figures dessinées d’après nature. Vol. 2. Chez Deterville, de l'imprimerie de Guilleminet, Paris, 300 pp.
Christensen, A.B., Christensen, E.F. & Weisrock, D.W. (2008) Population genetic structure of North American Ophiactis spp. brittle stars possessing hemoglobin. Marine Biology, 154, 755–763.
Clark, H.L. (1910) The echinoderms of Peru. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 52, 321–358, pls.1–14.
Clark, H.L. (1915) Catalogue of Recent ophiurans. Based on the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 25, 165–376, pls. 1–20.
Clark, H.L. (1955) Estrellas fragile. Biota, 1, 64–69
Duncan, P.M. (1879) On some Ophiuroidea from the Korean Seas. Journal of the Linnean Society. Zoology, 14, 445–482, pls. 9–11.
Duncan, P.M. (1881) On an unusual form of the Genus Hemipholis, Agass. Journal of the Linnean Society. Zoology, 15, 138–143, pl. 6.
Fell, H.B. (1960) Synoptic keys to the genera of Ophiuroidea. Zoology Publications from Victoria University of Wellington, 26, 1–44.
Hendler G. (1978) Development of Amphioplus abditus (Verrill) (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea). II. Description and discussion of ophiuroid skeletal ontogeny and homologies. Biological Bulletin, 154, 79–95.
Hendler G. (1988) Ophiuroid skeleton ontogeny reveals homologies among skeletal plates of adults: a study of Amphiura filiformis, Amphiura stimpsonii and Ophiophragmus filograneus (Echinodermata). Biological Bulletin, 174, 20–29.
Hendler, G., Miller, J.E., Pawson, D.L. & Kier, P.M. (1995) Sea stars, sea urchins, and allies: Echinoderms of Florida and the Caribbean. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London, 390 pp.
Ives, J.E. (1889) Catalogue of the Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 41, 169–179.
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999) International Code
of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, London, xxix + 306 pp.Koehler, R. (1907) Revision de la Collection des Ophiures du Museum d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Bulletin Scientifique de la France et de la Belgique, 41, 279–351, pls. 10–14.
Koehler, R. (1914) A contribution to the study of the ophiurans of the United States National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 84, vii +1–173, pls. 1–18.
Kohn, A.J. (1981) Type specimens and identity of the described species of Conus VI. The species described 1801–1810. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 71, 279–342.
Lessios, H.A. (2008) The Great American Schism: Divergence of marine organisms after the rise of the Central American Isthmus. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 39, 63–91.
Ljungman, A. (1867) Ophiuroidea viventia huc usque cognita enumerate. Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar, 1866, 23: 303–336.
Locarnini, R.A., Mishonov, A.V., Antonov, J.I., Boyer, T.P., Garcia, H.E., Baranova, O.K., Zweng, M. M. & Johnson, D.R. (2010) World Ocean Atlas 2009, Volume 1: Temperature. Levitus, S. (Ed.), NOAA Atlas NESDIS 68, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 184 pp.
Lucchi, C. (1985) Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) del frente marítimo uruguayo hasta 800 m de profundidad, con claves para su reconocimiento. Contribuciones del Departamento de Oceanografía (Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias), Montevideo, 2,115–171.
Ludwig, H. (1899) Jugendformen von Ophiuren. Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 14, 210–235.
Ludwig, H. (1904) Brutpflege bei Echinodermen. Zoologischer Jahrbücher, Suppl. 7, 683–699.
Lütken, C.F. (1856) Bidrag til Kundskab om Slangestjernerne. II. Oversigt over de vestindiske Ophiurer. III. Bidrag til Kundskab om Ophiurererne ved Central-Amerikas Vestkyst. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i Kjöbenhavn, 1856, 1–19, 20–26.
Lütken, C.F. (1859) Additamenta ad historiam Ophiuridarum. Beskrivelser af nye eller hidtil kun ufuldstændigt kjendte Arter af Slangestjerner. Anden Afdeling. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter. Naturvidenskabelig og Mathematisk Afdeling, Ser. 5, 5 (1861), 177–271, pls. 1–5.
Lyman, T. (1860) Descriptions of new Ophiuridae, belonging to the Smithsonian Institution and to the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Cambridge. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 7, 193–205, 252–262, 424–425.
Lyman, T. (1865) Ophiuridae and Astrophytidae. Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1, viii +1–200.
Lyman, T. (1869) Preliminary report on the Ophiuridae and Astrophytidae dredged in deep water between Cuba and the Florida Reef, by L.F. de Pourtales, Assist. U.S. Coast Survey. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1, 309–354.
Lyman, T. (1882) Report on the Ophiuroidea dredged by H.M.S. Challenger, during the years 1873–1876. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876. Zoology, Vol. 5 (Part 14), 1–386, pls. 1–48.
Martínez, S. (2008) Shallow water Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea of Uruguay: composition and biogeography. Revista de Biología Tropical, 56 (Suppl. 3), 205–214.
Matsumoto, H. (1917) A monograph of Japanese Ophiuroidea, arranged according to a new classification. Journal of the College of Science, Imperial University of Tokyo, 38(2), 1–408, 7 pls.
Miles, T.N. & He, R. (2010) Temporal and spatial variability of Chl-a and SST on the South Atlantic Bight: Revisiting with cloud-free reconstructions of MODIS satellite imagery. Continental Shelf Research, 30, 1951–1962.
Mortensen, T. (1920) On hermaphroditism in viviparous ophiuroids. Acta Zoologica (Stockholm), 1, 1–18, pl. 1.
Nielsen, E. (1932) Ophiurans from the Gulf of Panama, California, and the Strait of Georgia. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i Kjöbenhavn, 91, 241–346.
Ortega, L. & Martínez, A. (2007) Multiannual and seasonal variability of water masses and fronts over the Uruguayan Shelf. Journal of Coastal Research, 23, 618–629.
Ruppert, E.E. & Fox, R.S. (1988) Seashore animals of the Southeast. Guide to common shallow-water invertebrates of the southeastern Atlantic coast. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina, 429 pp.
Say, T. (1825) On the species of the Linnean genus Asterias, inhabiting the coast of the United States. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 5, 141–154.
Spalding, M.D., Fox, H.E., Allen, G.R., Davidson, N., Ferdaña, Z.A., Finlayson, M., Halpern, B.S., Jorge, M.A., Lombana, A., Lourie, S.A., Martin, K.D., Mcmanus, E., Molnar, J., Recchia, C.A. & Robertson, J. (2007) Marine ecoregions of the world: A bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. BioScience, 57, 573–583.
Spamer, E.E. & Bogan, A.E. (1992) General Invertebrates Collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Part 1: Guide to the General Invertebrates Collection. Part 2: Annotated catalogue of Recent type specimens: Protozoa, Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Rotifera, Nemata, Nematomorpha, Annelida, Arthropoda (Merostomata, Pycnogonida, and Crustacea), Brachiopoda, and Echinodermata. Tryonia, No. 26, vi +1–305.
Stimpson, W. (1852) Two new species of Ophiolepis, from the southern coast of the United States. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 4, 24–225.
Stöhr, S. (2001) Species of echinoderms described by A.W. Ljungman. In: Barker, M.F. (Ed.), Echinoderms 2000. Proceedings of the 10th International Echinoderm Conference, Dunedin, 31 January–4 February 2000. Balkema (Swets & Zeitlinger), Lisse, pp. 67–72.
Stöhr, S. (2005)Who's who among baby brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea): postmetamorphic development of some North Atlantic forms. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 143, 543–576.
Stöhr, S. (2010) Hemipholis cordifera (Bosc, 1802). In: Stöhr, S., O’Hara, T. (Eds.), World Ophiuroidea database. Available from http://www.marinespecies.org/ophiuroidea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=243274 (accessed 1 June 2011).
Sumida, P.Y.G., Tyler, P., Gage, J.D. & Nørrevang, A. (1998) Postlarval development in shallow and deep-sea ophiuroids (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) of the NE Atlantic Ocean. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 124, 267–300.
Thomas, L.P. (1962) The shallow water amphiurid brittle stars (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) of Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 12, 623–694.
Tommasi, L.R. (1970) Os ofiuróides Recentes do Brasil e de regiões vizinhas. Contribuições Avulses do Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, series Oceanografia Biológica, 20, 1–146.
Turner, R.L. & Miller J.E. (1988) Post-metamorphic recruitment and morphology of two sympatric brittlestars. In: Burke, R.D., Mladenov, P.V., Lambert, P. & R.L. Parsley (Eds.), Echinoderm biology: proceedings of the sixth international echinoderm conference, Victoria, 23–28 August 1987. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 493–502.
Verrill, A.E. (1867) Notes on the Radiata in the Museum of Yale College. No. 2. Notes on the echinoderms of Panama and West Coast of America, with descriptions of new genera and species. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1, 251–322.
Verrill, A.E. (1871) Notes on the Radiata in the Museum of Yale College, with descriptions of new genera and species. No. 8. Additional observations on echinoderms, chiefly from the Pacific coast of America. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1, 568–593.
Verrill, A.E. (1899) North American Ophiuroidea. Part I. Revision of certain families and genera of West Indian ophiurans. Part. II. A faunal catalogue of the known species of the West Indian ophiurans. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 10, 301–371, 372–386, pls. 42–43.
Wormuth, J.H. (1998) Workshop deliberations on the Ommastrephidae: a brief history of their systematics and a review of the systematics, distribution and biology of the genera Martialia Rochebrune and Mabille, 1889, Todaropsis Girard, 1890, Dosidicus Steenstrup, 1857, Hyaloteuthis Gray, 1849, and Eucleoteuthis Berry, 1916. In: Voss, N.A., Vecchione, M., Toll, R.B. & Sweeney, M.J. (Eds.), Systematics and Biogeography of Cephalopods. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 586 (I–II), pp. 373–383.