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Observations on a new luminous ophiuroid (Echinodermata) species J Mallefet2; Carrie A. McDougall*1; CM Herren1; G Hendler3; JF Case1 (1) Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; (2) Catholic University of Louvain, Lab. Animal Physiology, 5 place Croix du Sud, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium; (3) Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90007 USA      *(mcdougal@lifesci.ucsb.edu) Within the Echinoderm phylum (more than 5000 species), only 87 luminous species have been reported in four of the five classes: Crinoidea, Holothuroidea, Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea, with the complete absence of luminous species in Echinoidea remaining an enigma. A preliminary survey of central California coast ophiuroids, led us to discover in an aquarium at the Marine Science Institute (UCSB) an undescribed luminous amphiurid with affinities to Amphiodia violacea (Lütken, 1856). Twenty-six specimens were available for this first study. It is a small brooding ophiuroid with a maximum disk diameter of 4.5 mm, arm length of 33 mm; up to 11 juveniles were found in the genital bursa. KCl (200 mM) applications induced a very bright luminescence from the arms, as well as from the disk, although dimmer. The light-emission spectrum was measured using an OMA; the spectrum was unimodal with a maximum at 516 ± 1 nm. Video images captured with a SIT camera allowed the visualization of photocytes: they were found primarily on the lateral plates of the arm, as well as on the oral and aboral plates of the arm and on the disk. Fluorescence appears after the light emission. Work is in progress to further characterize this new luminous Amphiodia species. [Poster: mcdougal.carrie.87142]

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