Ophiura

Ophiura Temporal range: Early Paleocene to present [1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
O. ophiura
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Ophiuroidea
Order:	Ophiurida
Family:	Ophiuridae
Genus:	Ophiura Lamarck, 1801
Species
See text

Ophiura is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Ophiuridae. ^[2]

The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. ^[2]

Taxonomy

Fossil of O. wetherelli from the London Clay (Natural History Museum, London)

The following extant species are known: ^[2]

• Ophiura acervata (Lyman, 1869)
• Ophiura aequalis (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura albata (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura albida Forbes, 1839
• Ophiura amphitrites (Bell, 1888)
• Ophiura annulata Quenstedt, 1876
• Ophiura anoidea H.L.Clark, 1923
• Ophiura atacta H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura bathybia H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura caledonica (Koehler, 1907)
• Ophiura calyptolepis H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura carnea Lütken, 1858
• Ophiura carpelloides Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura clemens (Koehler, 1904)
• Ophiura crassa Mortensen, 1936

• Ophiura cryptolepis H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura ctenophora (H.L.Clark, 1909)
• Ophiura cunliffei (Forbes, 1846)
• Ophiura elongata Say, 1825
• Ophiura estarensis Barbier, Debelmas & Latreille, 1957
• Ophiura falcifera (Lyman, 1869)
• Ophiura fallax Cherbonnier, 1959
• Ophiura figurata
• Ophiura flagellata (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura flexibilis (Koehler, 1911)
• Ophiura floscellata Hertz, 1926
• Ophiura fluctuans Koehler, 1922
• Ophiura fraterna (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura gagara Djakonov, 1949
• Ophiura grubei Heller, 1863
• Ophiura imbecillis (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura imprudens (Koehler, 1906)
• Ophiura indica (Brock, 1888)
• Ophiura innoxia (Koehler, 1906)
• Ophiura integra
• Ophiura kofoidi McClendon, 1909
• Ophiura koreni Jarshinsky
• Ophiura kunradeca Berry, 1938
• Ophiura kurilensis Baranova
• Ophiura lanceolata H.L.Clark, 1939
• Ophiura lenticularis (Koehler, 1908)
• Ophiura leptoctenia H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura lienosa (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura ljungmani (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura luetkenii (Lyman, 1860)
• Ophiura lutkeni (Lyman, 1860)
• Ophiura maculata (Ludwig, 1886)
• Ophiura micracantha H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura migrans
• Ophiura mimaria (Koehler, 1908)
• Ophiura minuta Risso, 1826
• Ophiura mitescens Koehler, 1922
• Ophiura monostoecha H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura mundata (Koehler, 1906)
• Ophiura nana (Lütken & Mortensen, 1899)
• Ophiura neglecta Johnston, 1935
• Ophiura nitida Mortensen, 1933
• Ophiura olifex Quenstedt, 1876
• Ophiura ooplax (H.L.Clark, 1911)
• Ophiura ophiura (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Ophiura palliata (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura paucisquama Matsumoto, 1917
• Ophiura platyacantha McKnight, 2003
• Ophiura podica (Koehler, 1910)
• Ophiura prisca Goldfuss, 1833
• Ophiura pteracantha Liao, 1982
• Ophiura quadrispina H.L.Clark, 1911
• Ophiura robusta (Ayres, 1852)
• Ophiura rondeletii Risso, 1826
• Ophiura rouchi (Koehler, 1912)
• Ophiura sarsii Lütken, 1855
• Ophiura saurura (Verrill, 1894)
• Ophiura scutellata (Lütken & Mortensen, 1899)
• Ophiura scutulata Lütken & Mortensen, 1899
• Ophiura spinicantha McKnight, 2003
• Ophiura squamosa Baker, 1979
• Ophiura stellata (Studer, 1882)
• Ophiura stenobrachia H.L.Clark, 1917
• Ophiura tenera (Lyman, 1883)
• Ophiura tenorii (Delle Chiaje, 1825)
• Ophiura trimeni Bell, 1905
• Ophiura umitakamaruae Seno & Irimura, 1968
• Ophiura undulata (Lyman, 1878)
• Ophiura ventrocarinata Quenstedt, 1876
• Ophiura verrucosa (Studer, 1876)
• Ophiura violainae (Cherbonnier & Sibuet, 1972)
• Ophiura zebra Djakonov, 1954

Fossil species

Fossilized assemblage of O. hendleri , from the La Meseta Formation of Antarctica (UIUC)

The following definitive fossil species are known. The genus dates back to at least the Early Paleocene with O. achatae: ^[1]

• Ophiura achatae Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura bartonensis Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura bognoriensis Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura costata Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura furiae Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura hendleri Blake & Aronson, 1998
• Ophiura marylandica Berry, 1934
• Ophiura paucilepis Stöhr, Jagt & Klompmaker, 2011
• Ophiura pohangensis Ishida et al., 2022 ^[1]
• ? Ophiura sternbergica Kutscher, 1981
• Ophiura wetherelli (Forbes, 1852)

Former fossil species

The following species, dating back to the Early Jurassic, were originally placed in Ophiura but are now thought to belong to a different subdivision, or are at least known to not actually belong to the genus: ^[1]

• Ophiura astonensis Hess, 1964
• Ophiura bridgerensis (Meek, 1873)
• Ophiura cretacea Guéranger, 1853 ^[3]
• Ophiura graysonensis (Alexander, 1931)
• Ophiura davisi Rasmussen, 1972
• Ophiura parviformis Küpper, 1954
• Ophiura straini Cornell, Lemone & Norland, 1991
• Ophiura texana (Clark, 1893)
• Ophiura tinurtiensis Valette, 1929
• Ophiura travisana Berry, 1941
• Ophiura utahensis (Clark & Twitchell, 1915)
• Ophiura vindobonensis Küpper, 1954

References

1. Ishida, Yoshiaki; Thuy, Ben; Nam, Gi-Soo; Martynov, Alexander; Fujita, Toshihiko; Kim, Jong-Heon (2022-01-01). "A New Species of Ophiura (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) from Miocene Deep-Sea Deposits in the Pohang Basin, Korea" . Paleontological Research. 26 (1). doi:10.2517/PR200002. ISSN   1342-8144.
2. "Ophiura Lamarck, 1801". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
3. "PBDB Collection". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2025-02-10.