Amphipholis | |
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Image of Amphipholis squamata | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Ophiuroidea |
Order: | Ophiurida |
Family: | Amphiuridae |
Genus: | Amphipholis Thomas, 1966 |
Species | |
See text |
Amphipholis is a large genus of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. Some species have been used to study echinoderm development ( Amphipholis kochii [1] ) and bioluminescence (the dwarf brittle star, Amphipholis squamata [2] [3] ).
Amphipholis is a large genus with potentially many cryptic species. [4] The high variability may be due to common parthenogenetic reproduction. The type species of the genus is Amphipholis januarii Ljungman, 1866(=Amphipholis gracillima (Stimpson, 1852)).
Species include: [5]