Ophiura is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Ophiuridae.
The genus has cosmopolitan distribution.
Taxonomy
The following extant species are known:
Ophiura acervata Ophiura aequalis Ophiura albata Ophiura albida Ophiura amphitrites Ophiura annulata Ophiura anoidea Ophiura atacta Ophiura bathybia Ophiura caledonica Ophiura calyptolepis Ophiura carnea Ophiura carpelloides Ophiura clemens Ophiura crassa
Ophiura cryptolepis Ophiura ctenophora Ophiura cunliffei Ophiura elongata Ophiura estarensis Ophiura falcifera Ophiura fallax Ophiura figurata Ophiura flagellata Ophiura flexibilis Ophiura floscellata Ophiura fluctuans Ophiura fraterna Ophiura gagara Ophiura grubei Ophiura imbecillis Ophiura imprudens Ophiura indica Ophiura innoxia Ophiura integra Ophiura kofoidi Ophiura koreni Ophiura kunradeca Ophiura kurilensis Ophiura lanceolata Ophiura lenticularis Ophiura leptoctenia Ophiura lienosa Ophiura ljungmani Ophiura luetkenii Ophiura lutkeni Ophiura maculata Ophiura micracantha Ophiura migrans Ophiura mimaria Ophiura minuta Ophiura mitescens Ophiura monostoecha Ophiura mundata Ophiura nana Ophiura neglecta Ophiura nitida Ophiura olifex Ophiura ooplax Ophiura ophiura Ophiura palliata Ophiura paucisquama Ophiura platyacantha Ophiura podica Ophiura prisca Ophiura pteracantha Ophiura quadrispina Ophiura robusta Ophiura rondeletii Ophiura rouchi Ophiura sarsii Ophiura saurura Ophiura scutellata Ophiura scutulata Ophiura spinicantha Ophiura squamosa Ophiura stellata Ophiura stenobrachia Ophiura tenera Ophiura tenorii Ophiura trimeni Ophiura umitakamaruae Ophiura undulata Ophiura ventrocarinata Ophiura verrucosa Ophiura violainae Ophiura zebra
Fossil species
The following definitive fossil species are known. The genus dates back to at least the Early Paleocene with O. achatae: Ophiura achatae Ophiura bartonensis Ophiura bognoriensis Ophiura costata Ophiura furiae Ophiura hendleri Ophiura marylandica Ophiura paucilepis Ophiura pohangensis Ishida et al., 2022 ?Ophiura sternbergica Ophiura wetherelli
Former fossil species The following species, dating back to the Early Jurassic, were originally placed in Ophiura but are now thought to belong to a different subdivision, or are at least known to not actually belong to the genus:
Ophiura astonensis Ophiura bridgerensis Ophiura cretacea Guéranger, 1853 Ophiura graysonensis Ophiura davisi Ophiura parviformis Ophiura straini Ophiura texana Ophiura tinurtiensis Ophiura travisana Ophiura utahensis Ophiura vindobonensis
References