Ophiotrichidae
Brittle stars with delicate, translucent, thorny spines.
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Ophiotrichidae is a family of brittle stars belonging to the suborder Gnathophiurina. Their arms are covered in fine, translucent, thorny spines and can bend in any direction.
The jaws have well-developed clusters of tooth papillae only at the tip, not along the sides, and lack mouth papillae. A second pair of tube feet is present inside the mouth edge. These brittle stars have large radial shields, and the upper surface of the central disc is covered with spines and thorny towers.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumEchinodermata
- ClassOphiuroidea
- OrderOphiurida
- FamilyOphiotrichidae
Named by Ljungman, 1867
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Ophiotrichidae (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Suborder
- Gnathophiurina
- Earliest named genus
- Ophiothrix Müller & Troschel, 1840
- Latest named genus
- Ophiothrichoides Delage & Hérouard, 1903
Facts from the source article.
More in Brittle Stars
Elsewhere in Sea Cucumbers and Brittle Stars
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Ophiotrichidae (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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