Ophiolimna bairdi

Ophiolimna bairdi (Lyman, 1883) Fig. 6G–H Ophiacantha bairdi Lyman, 1883: 256, pl. 5(70–72).— Mortensen 1933c: 30–31. Ophiolimna bairdi.— Paterson 1985: 60, fig 24.— Martynov & Litvinova 2008: 100–101, fig. 17a. Material examined. MD 50 CP7, MNHN IE.2009.1570 (6). MD 50 CP152, MNHN IE.2009.1571 (1). Distribution. Arctic (664–2750 m), NW Atlantic (1910–2592 m), NE Atlantic (609–2910 m), NW Pacific (48–2207 m), NE Pacific (520–2300 m), E Atlantic (1975–2330 m), E Indo-W Pacific (244–280 m), E Pacific (960– 1819 m), S America (2945–2958 m), South Africa (1300 m), S Australia (1428–2010 m), New Zealand (1318–1327 m). SPA (940–1880 m). Remarks. The SPA specimens have been identified here as the northern hemisphere O. bairdi, rather than O. antarctica (Lyman 1879) that has been recorded from Antarctic and subantarctic regions, on both morphological and bathymetric evidence. The specimens have a mix of granules and short conical stumps on the disc (Fig. 6G), characteristic of O. bairdi, rather than the uniform granule-shaped armament of O. antarctica. Moreover, records from the north Atlantic have been generally found at 1000–2500 m, whereas those in the southern polar regions are generally above 1000 m. Phylogenetic evidence in Christodoulou et al. (2019) suggests that tropical Indo-Pacific specimens identified by O’Hara and Stöhr (2006) as O. antarctica are a separate species related to O. perfida (Koehler 1904). Specimens from the Galapagos Islands, although appearing broadly similar in appearance, are placed in a separate genetic lineage (Christodoulou et al. 2019, DNA code=NA064-015-13-A_EP_3).Published as part of O'Hara, Timothy D. & Thuy, Ben, 2022, Biogeography and taxonomy of Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from the Îles Saint- Paul and Amsterdam in the southern Indian Ocean, pp. 1-49 in Zootaxa 5124 (1) on page 28, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5124.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/640467