''Amphipholis'' is a large genus of
brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. Some species have been used to study echinoderm development (''
Amphipholis kochii
''Amphipholis'' is a large genus of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. Some species have been used to study echinoderm development ('' Amphipholis kochii'') and bioluminescence (the ...
'') and
bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
(the
Dwarf brittle star
''Amphipholis squamata'', common names brooding snake star and dwarf brittle star, is a species complexLe Gac, M., Féral, J.P., Poulin, E., Veyret, M. & Chenuil, A. (2004) ''Identification of allopatric clades in the cosmopolitan ophiuroid speci ...
, ''Amphipholis squamata'').
Systematics
''Amphipholis'' is a large genus with potentially many
cryptic species
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
. The high variability may be due to common
parthenogenetic
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...
reproduction. The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
of the genus is ''Amphipholis januarii ''
Ljungman, 1866(=''Amphipholis gracillima'' (
Stimpson, 1852)).
Species include:
MarineSpecies.org - Amphipholis Thomas, 1966
/ref>
References
Amphiuridae
{{ophiuroidea-stub