(Montagu, 1804)

Description
Body with a central disc of up to 12-13 mm in diameter and 5 thin and flexible arms of 15 times that length; coloured brownish or greyish.

Disc
Disc covered with scales on both sides. The primary plates are inconspicuous. The radial shields are small, smooth and separated (A. brachiata disc).

Arms
In the proximal part of the arms are 8-10 (sometimes 12-13) pairs of short arm spines per segment and the tube foot pores are covered by 2 tentacle scales. In the distal half of the arms there are no tentacle scales. The dorsal arm plates are very short, the ventral arm plates are short and broad, nearly rectangular (A. brachiata arm).

Mouth
The mouth shields are spearhead- shaped, with a conspicuous outer lobe. There are paired infradental papillae on top of the jaws and one broad, scale-like and somewhat folded outer mouth papilla on each side of the jaws, not contiguous with the infradental papillae. Two pairs of tube-feet within the mouth (A. brachiata mouth).

Habitat
This species lives buried in sandy bottoms, with the point of the arms just protruding above the surface.

Distribution
Helgoland

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Echinodermata
Class Ophiuroidea
Order Ophiurae
Family Amphiuridae
Genus Amphiura
Species brachiata

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Not included in WoRMS database

Scientific synonyms and common names

Asterias brachiata Montagu, 1804
Amphiocnida brachiata (Montagu)
Ophiocentrus brachiatus Montagu, 18??
Acrocnida brachiata Montagu, 1804
Amphiura neapolitana M. Sars, 1857

Mortensen, T.H., 1927. Handbook of the Echinoderms of the British Isles. Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press: 471 pp.

Moyse, J. & P.A. Tyler, 1990. Echinodermata. In: P.J. Hayward & J.S. Ryland (eds): The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North- West Europe, Volume 2, Molluscs to Chordates. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 839-871.

Picton, B.E., 1993. A field guide to the shallow-water Echinoderms of the British Isles. Immel Publishing: 96 pp.

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