Amphipholis squamata
species of echinoderm
Amphipholis squamata, common names brooding snake star and dwarf brittle star, is a species complex of brittle stars in the family Amphiuridae.
Description
This species is small, grey to bluish-white, and phosphorescent. Brooding individuals emit more light than non-brooding individuals. It has thin, short arms around 20 mm long. The round disc is 3 to 5mm, and has a scale covering with D-shaped radial plates. It has rhombic-shaped mouth shields and extremely wide mouth papillae.
Distribution
Amphipholis squamata is found in all parts of the British Isles and also in Ireland. It has been recorded in many other parts of the world, including France,New Zealand and other places, with one conference paper referring to it as a cosmopolitan species. Molecular studies have shown that there are multiple species in this complex.
Habitat
This brittle star lives in the intertidal zone in shallow water, and can be found under large stones, shells, and around sessile invertebrates such as bryozoans.
The public source identifies “Amphipholis squamata” as species of echinoderm. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Amphipholis, squamata and species.
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This entry incorporates text from “Amphipholis squamata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.