Ophiurina Explained

Ophiurina are a suborder of brittle stars containing the majority of living brittle star species.

Characteristics

Ophiurina contain a large number of ophiuroids with characteristics ranging from skin just covering the disk, the presence or absence of arm combs, and an infradental papilla occurring with a distinct diastema between it and its flanking oral papillae^[1]

Systematics

There is currently no consensus as to the subdivision of the Ophiurina (traditionally, the infraorders have been treated as suborders). It contains the genera Amphiura, Amphipholis, and Ophiacantha.

The suborder has been divided into the following recent infraorders and families

^[2]

• Ophiacanthidae

Hemieuryalina

• Hemieuryalidae

Chilophiurina

• Ophiuridae

Gnathophiurina

• Amphilepididae
• Amphiuridae
• Ophiothricidae
• Ophiactidae
• Ophionereididae
• Ophiocomidae

Ophiodermatina

• Ophiochitonidae
• Ophiodermatidae
• Ophiolepidina
• Ophiolepididae

Notes and References

1. Cronin-O'Reilly . Sorcha . 2016 . Identification of Deep-Sea Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea (Phylum Echinodermata) from two of Ireland's Submarine Canyon Systems, by use of Morphological and Molecular Techniques . ResearchGate . 10.13140/RG.2.2.16800.07680.
2. Smith, A.B.; Paterson, G.L.J., Ophiuroid phylogeny and higher taxonomy: morphological, molecular and palaeontological perspectives. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 114 (1995)