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WoRMS taxon details

Ophiura albida Forbes, 1839

124913  (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:124913)

accepted
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Forbes, E. (1839). On the Asteriadae of the Irish Sea. <em>Memoirs of the Wernerian Society.</em> 8: 114-143., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35485580
page(s): 125 [details] 
Description Brittle stars consist of a central disc clearly separated from the slender, very agile and very strong arms. Ophiura albida...  
Description Brittle stars consist of a central disc clearly separated from the slender, very agile and very strong arms. Ophiura albida is very similar to Ophiura ophiura and can be distinguished from this species by the absence of pores between the arm plates and by its fewer arm comb papillae. The top is reddish to orange-brown; the bottom side is dirty white. [details]

Distribution From about 10 to more than 200 m depth, common on sand, muddy sand and fine gravel, all round the British Isles  
Distribution From about 10 to more than 200 m depth, common on sand, muddy sand and fine gravel, all round the British Isles [details]

Distribution In both periods Ophiura albida was widely spread across the Belgian part of the North Sea and was only absent in the...  
Distribution In both periods Ophiura albida was widely spread across the Belgian part of the North Sea and was only absent in the eastern coastal zone. The species was found in relatively high densities (1976-1986 period: maximum 100 ind./m2; 1994-2001 period: maximum 900 ind./m2). [details]
Stöhr, S.; O’Hara, T.; Thuy, B. (Eds) (2024). World Ophiuroidea Database. Ophiura albida Forbes, 1839. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=124913 on 2024-12-02
Date
action
by
2004-12-21 15:54:05Z
created
2007-07-18 12:17:12Z
checked
2011-07-13 12:05:25Z
changed

Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License


original description Forbes, E. (1839). On the Asteriadae of the Irish Sea. <em>Memoirs of the Wernerian Society.</em> 8: 114-143., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35485580
page(s): 125 [details] 

original description (of Ophiura albida var. tuberculosa Mortensen, 1933) Mortensen, T. (1933). Ophiuroidea. <em>The Danish Ingolf Expedition.</em> 4(8), 1-121, pls 1-3.
page(s): 78 [details] 

context source (Deepsea) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), available online at http://www.iobis.org/ [details] 

context source (Schelde) MWTL biological monitoring network Westerschelde [MWTL biologisch monitoring netwerk Westerschelde] [details] 

context source (BeRMS 2020) Bio-environmental research group; Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries research (ILVO), Belgium; (2015): Epibenthos and demersal fish monitoring data in function of wind energy development in the Belgian part of the North Sea. [details] 

basis of record Hansson, H.G. (2001). Echinodermata, <B><I>in</I></B>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). <i>European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels,</i>. 50: pp. 336-351. (look up in IMIS) [details] 

additional source Southward, E.C.; Campbell, A.C. (2006). [Echinoderms: keys and notes for the identification of British species]. <i>Synopses of the British fauna (new series)</i>, 56. Field Studies Council: Shrewsbury, UK. ISBN 1-85153-269-2. 272 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] 

additional source Muller, Y. (2004). Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory]. <em>Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France.</em> 307 pp., available online at http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/145561.pdf [details] 

additional source Hansson, H. (2004). North East Atlantic Taxa (NEAT): Nematoda. Internet pdf Ed. Aug 1998., available online at http://www.tmbl.gu.se/libdb/taxon/taxa.html [details] Available for editors  PDF available [request]
 
 Present  Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio   Inaccurate  Introduced: alien  Containing type locality 
   

From editor or global species database
Description Brittle stars consist of a central disc clearly separated from the slender, very agile and very strong arms. Ophiura albida is very similar to Ophiura ophiura and can be distinguished from this species by the absence of pores between the arm plates and by its fewer arm comb papillae. The top is reddish to orange-brown; the bottom side is dirty white. [details]

Unreviewed
Biology O. albida has separate sexes, external fertilization and pelagic larvae. The maximum age is estimated at 3 years. This shortlived species shows a relatively fast-growing strategy. O. albida may be particularly vulnerable to predation. It shows a high reproductive effort, thus maintaining the populations (Wolff, 1973; Fish & Fish, 1989; Gage, 1990). The species moves freely on the sediment (Mortensen, 1927). Small invertebrates, particularly polychaetes, bivalve mollucs and crustaceans, comprise the main food of Ophiura spp. There is evidence that scavenging and surface deposit feeding are also fairly frequent (Wolff, 1973; Warner, 1982; Fish & Fish, 1989). Young stages of trematodes and nematodes can be found in the body cavity of this brittle star (Mortensen, 1927). [details]

Breeding Ophiopluteus larva. Summer [details]

Distribution From about 10 to more than 200 m depth, common on sand, muddy sand and fine gravel, all round the British Isles [details]

Distribution In both periods Ophiura albida was widely spread across the Belgian part of the North Sea and was only absent in the eastern coastal zone. The species was found in relatively high densities (1976-1986 period: maximum 100 ind./m2; 1994-2001 period: maximum 900 ind./m2). [details]

Habitat O. albida lives in areas with a variety of sand and muddy sand deposits. [details]

Habitat Ophiura albida prefers fine to coarse-grained sediments (median grain size 150-650 μm) without any preference for a particular median grain size. The species furthermore prefers sediments with a low to medium mud content (maximum 40%). [details]

Morphology O. albida has a disk with rather coarse scales. The diameter of the disk can be up to 15 mm. The arms are about four times the diameter of the disk. The dorsal and ventral arm plates have a convex outer edge. The mouth shield is small, approximately one-third of the disk radius. In contrast to O. texturata (q.v.) there are no pores present between the lower arm plates. The colour of the dorsal surface usually is reddish-brown, that of the radial shields whitish (Mortensen, 1927; Southward, 1972; Gage, 1990; Hayward & Ryland, 1990). [details]

Publication date 1838 [details]
    Definitions

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LanguageName 
Dutch kleine slangster  [details]
English Serpent's table brittlestarbrittlestar  [details]
French ophiure blanche  [details]
German Heller Schlangensterngemeiner Schlangenstern  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål hvitflekket slangestjerne  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk kvitflekket slangestjerne  [details]
Swedish vitfläckig fransormstjärna  [details]
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