Ophiura bognoriensis
Ophiura bognoriensis
Summary
Ophiura bognoriensis was a brittle star: a mobile echinoderm with a compact central disc and five long, jointed arms. Living Ophiura use flexible arms to crawl over or partly within soft sediment and are opportunistic benthic feeders, taking detritus and small food particles and, in some species, small prey.
Brittle-star skeletons disarticulate rapidly after death, so the species is more commonly known from arm ossicles than from complete animals. That taphonomy makes microscopic characters of lateral arm plates and vertebrae important, while also making over-confident identification of worn fragments a particular risk.
Quick Identification
Look for: small brittle-star arm plates or articulated arm fragments with the compact, block-like ossicles typical of Ophiura; species identification depends on the shape and sculpture of well-preserved lateral arm plates rather than on a generic star-shaped outline.
Diagnostic Features
- Lateral arm plates are the principal routinely preserved diagnostic element.
- Arm plates have a compact ophiurid form with clearly defined spine articulations along the distal edge.
- External plate sculpture and proportions differ consistently from Ophiura wetherelli when unworn comparative material is available.
- Vertebral ossicles are short and robust relative to arm width.
- Species-level determination requires multiple well-preserved plate characters, not a single isolated worn ossicle.
Fossil Details
Similar Species
Recorded Fossil Sites
No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.
References
- Forbes, E. (1852). Monograph of the Echinodermata of the British Tertiaries. Palaeontographical Society Monograph View reference