S. Schoppe, OPHIOTHRIX SYNOECINA NEW SPECIES (ECHINODERMATA, OPHIUROIDEA) FROM THE CARIBBEAN COAST OF COLOMBIA, Bulletin of marine science, 58(2), 1996, pp. 429-437
A new species, Ophiothrix synoecina, is described and figured. O. syno
ecina differs from its Caribbean congeners in spination of disk and ar
ms and in its color pattern. The disk of O. synoecina bears short, sto
ut stumps, the arm spines are flattened and uniform denticulated. Some
individuals are dark blue-grey, others have banded arms. O. synoecina
is an obligate associate of the regular sea urchin Echinometra lucunt
er (L.) in the area of Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
The rock-boring echinometrid E. lucunter inhabits heavily exposed are
as of rocky shores. O. synoecina lives in the boreholes excavated by t
he sea urchin, spending its life under the echinoid.