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The aboral side of the central disk looks inflated and has many scattered scales. The radial shields are paired at the base of each ray and in contact with each other for most of the length except for at the end nearest the center of the disk, where they are separated by a thin line of scales. Aboral view of arm. The aboral plates on the rays are oval and wider than long. The arm spines taper to a point and are nearly round. Tube feet can be seen projecting below arm.
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Amphioidea urtica found intertidally in mud at Padilla Bay, June 2012 by Sarah Bewley and Melissa Moxey. Central disk is 9 mm diameter and total span is about 15 cm. Note that several arms are regenerating and others have recently broken but have not yet started regeneration. (Photo by: Dave Cowles, June 2012)
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Closeup of the central disk (aboral side) of the individual above. The aboral side of the disk is covered with small, conical spines which are larger toward the margins. It has conspicuous lobes between the arms, and may appear inflated.
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The "dorsal" (aboral) plates on the rays are separated by small secondary plates, as can be seen here. This is a view of the aboral side of a ray. The five spines projecting from the lateral plates can be seen to the sides. The yellow tube feet can be seen projecting from the other, oral side of the ray
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The underside of the mouth and the rays are white..
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Ophiopholis aculeata from a subtidal rock, Deception Pass, WA (Photo by: Dave Cowles, July 2006)
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Ophiopteris papillosa from Royal Palm State Beach, Long Beach, CA (Photo by: Dave Cowles, April 1997)
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A closeup of the aboral side of the central disk. Note that the radial shields (paired large central disk plates at the base of each arm) are longer than wide, and that their proximal ends are separated by a wedge-shaped group of scales while their distal ends are separated by an extension of an arm plate.
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The arms of this species extend from slots in the central disk, as seen here. The plates at the edge of the slot are lined an "arm comb" of bristles which touch the edges of the arm. In this species the bristles of the arm comb are unusually flat and squared off, and the edge of each bristle is in contact with the edge of the next bristle so it is hard to see that the arm comb is distinct from the rest of the plate. In this photo the outline of several of the bristles of the comb can be seen along the edge of the upper plate. Note also that the aboral arm plates are wedge-shaped with the widest portion of each plate distal to the central disk.
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This view of the underside of the central disk shows the white coloration on the underside. Also note that the oral shields (large plates seen between the bases of the arms) are widest near the middle rather than near the outer edges.
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Ophiura luetkenii found subtidally near Northwest Island by Haruko Ito. Ray length 3 cm. (Photo by: Dave Cowles, July 2012)
