Ophiopsila annulosa (M. Sars) in the Plymouth area

Extract

Norman (1905) gave a short account of the distribution of the ophiuroid, Ophiopsila annulosa, having dredged it himself from Birterbuy Bay, Ireland, in 1874, and from outside Dartmouth Harbour in 1904. He also obtained specimens in 1903 from the Plymouth Laboratory; these had been dredged in 12–25 fathoms on Mewstone Ledge and Stoke Point Grounds, near Plymouth, and were recorded as not uncommon in the red sandstone, especially in old Pholadidea crypts. Mortensen (1927) expressed some doubt as to Norman's identification of the Irish specimens; he noted that the Plymouth specimens had been found in exactly the same locality and habitat as the smaller and commoner species, Ophiopsila aranea, and considered that the presence of the larger species in British waters could not be definitely settled until new records were to hand. O. annulosa was not recorded in the Plymouth Marine Fauna (Mar. Biol. Assoc, 1931) and no specimens have been found in the reference museum at the Laboratory.