''Ophionotus victoriae'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

brittle star Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomo ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Ophiurida The Ophiurida are an order of echinoderms within the class Ophiuroidea. It includes the vast majority of living brittle stars. Characteristics Ophiurida have bursae for respiration and excretion, and dorsal and ventral arm shields are present a ...

. It has a circumpolar distribution around Antarctica.

Description

''Ophionotus victoriae'' is a large brittle star. It has a wide disc in diameter and 5 arms that reach in length. The colour is variable, being white, grey, brown or bluish.''Ophionotus victoriae'' Bell, 1902
Antarctic Field Guide. Retrieved 2012-01-08.

Distribution and habitat

''Ophionotus victoriae'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the seas around Antarctica where it is found at depths down to . It is sometimes abundant and may represent 60–90% numerically and 40–80% by mass of the total macrofauna of the area.

Biology

Like other Antarctic invertebrates, ''Ophionotus victoriae'' has a slow growth rate and can live up to 22 years. It is a

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

and opportunistic generalist and feeds on a wide range of invertebrates, especially krill. It also scavenges, feeds on detritus and even juvenile brittle stars. It is itself preyed on by fish and also by the large brittle star, '' Ophiosparte gigas'', from which it flees. The females spawn in the Antarctic summer and the larvae develop slowly, forming part of the

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

before settling on the seabed and becoming juvenile brittle stars.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2220824 Ophiuridae Animals described in 1902