Ophiomastix janualis
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Echinodermata
Class
Ophiuroidea
Order
Ophiurida
Family
Ophiocomidae
Genus
Ophiomastix
Species
Ophiomastix janualis
Distinguishing features
A large dark brown brittlestar with yellow banded pattern on arms. Arms protrude and dangle from corals. The dark disc is hidden within coral and is sparsely covered with sharp spinelets that are often pale, especially at the base. The arm spines are long and uniformly dark, not banded, and some are conspicuosly expanded at the tip into a club-like shape.
Taxonomic features (Devaney, 1978) are too small to be seen in the field but colour pattern enables this species to be distinguished from other Ophiomastix species at Lizard Island.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: This species is extremely abundant, their arms commonly seen protruding from corals Porites cylindrica and Turbinaria reniformis.
Web resources
References
- Clark, A.M. and F.W.E. Rowe (1971). Monograph of shallow-water Indo-west Pacific echinoderms British Museum (Natural History), London.
- Devaney, D. (1978). A Review of the Genus Ophiomastix (Ophiuroidea: Ophiocomidae), Micronesica, 14(2): 273-359.