Ophiocanops fugiens

Ophiocanops fugiens is the only one living species in the brittle star family Ophiocanopidae. It has been regarded as the most primitive brittle star, close to Paleozoic forms,[1] though other authors have disagreed with the view.[2] Ophiocanops is usually placed in the order Oegophiurida (suborder Zeugophiurina) or regarded as a genus incertae sedis[3] or even given its own subclass Oegophiuridea.[4] Some recent data suggest its relationship to the extant family Ophiomyxidae (it would thus belong to the order Phrynophiurida).[5]

Ophiocanops fugiens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Echinodermata
Class:
Ophiuroidea
Order:
incertae sedis
Family:
Ophiocanopidae
Genus:
Ophiocanops
Species:
O. fugiens

Koehler, 1922
Binomial name
Ophiocanops fugiens

Characteristics

The arms lack dorsal and ventral shields; the madreporite is on edge of central disc. The digestive glands extend into proximal portions of arms. It has no bursae for gonads and gas exchange/excretion.[6]

Ecology

Ophiocanops fugiens is a rare species found in South Asian seas.[7] Its habitat is shallow water[8] and it lives in association with black corals.[9]

References
  1. Mortensen, Th., On an extraordinary ophiurid, Ophiocanops fugiens Koehler. With remarks on Astrogymnotes, Ophiopteron, and on an albino Ophiocoma. Papers from Dr. Th. Mortensen's Pacific expedition 1914-16. LX. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i Kobenhaven 93.1933
  2. Hotchkiss,F.H.C, Ophiuroid Ophiocanops (Echinodermata) not a living fossil, Journal of Natural History, Vol.11, No.4, 1977
  3. The World Ophiuroidea Database - Ophiocanops Koehler, 1922
  4. Smith, A.B.; Paterson, G.L.J. . Ophiuroid phylogeny and higher taxonomy: morphological, molecular and palaeontological perspectives. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 114 (1995)
  5. Pearse,V.B. et al.,(1998) An accessible population of Ophiocanops off NE Sulawesi, Indonesia. In: Mooi, R. & Telford, M. (Eds.) Echinoderms: San Francisco. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 413–418
  6. R.C.Brusca, G.J.Brusca. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates, 2 ed.(2003)
  7. Ophiocanops (Genus)
  8. Guille,A.,Les Ophiurides des marges continentales de la région des Philippines-Indonésie Distribution Bathymétrique et étagement. In:Echinoderms: Proceedings of the European Colloquium on Echinoderms, Brussels 1979
  9. Fujita,T.S. et al. 2001. Biology of a rare ophiuroid Ophiocanops fugiens Koehler, 1922 (Echinodermata) associated with black corals, with notes on the specimens collected from Lembeh Strait, Bitung, Indonesia. In: Terazaki,M.A.et al., eds. Proceedings of the 11th JSPS Joint Seminar on Marine Science. Center for International Cooperation, Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, pp. 326-333


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