Ophiactis savignyi

Ge­o­graphic Range

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi can be found in trop­i­cal ma­rine habi­tats around the globe. Hu­mans may have con­tributed to the dis­per­sal of O. sav­i­gnyi, es­pe­cially in the west­ern and east­ern pop­u­la­tions around the Isth­mus of Panama. The species was sep­a­rated by the isth­mus until hu­mans opened it with the Panama Canal. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi is found in the Pa­cific, the At­lantic Oceans, the Per­sian Gulf, and the Mediter­ranean Sea. Its ranges also in­clude the north­ern, west­ern, and east­ern coasts of South Amer­ica, Hawaii, French Poly­ne­sia, the Gulf of Mex­ico, the Caribbean, and the south-east­ern and south-west­ern coasts of North Amer­ica. The brit­tle star is also along the coast of Aus­tralia and South­east Asia ex­tend­ing up into China's east­ern coast. This species is con­sid­ered the most com­mon brit­tle star in the world. (Chao and Tsai, 1995; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Roy and Sponer, 2001; Roy and Sponer, 2002; Smith­son­ian Ma­rine Sta­tion at Fort Pierce, 2010; Stohr and Hans­son, 2009)

Habi­tat

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi is ben­thic and re­sides in­shore, on con­ti­nen­tal shelves, and con­ti­nen­tal slopes. This brit­tle star shel­ters it­self in var­i­ous sub­trop­i­cal ma­rine and trop­i­cal ma­rine habi­tats, in­clud­ing rub­ble, algae, corals, sponges, reefs, man­grove areas, ship hulls, and sea grasses like tur­tle grass. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi is more fre­quent on sponges than algae. This species can in­habit sponges in den­si­ties up to 1,892 in­di­vid­u­als per 100 grams of dried sponge; 3,000 in­di­vid­u­als per liter have also been re­ported. The den­sity of O. sav­i­gnyi de­pends on space and food avail­able. One species of sponge in­hab­ited by this brit­tle star is Teda­nia ignis; an in­hab­ited algae species is Sar­gas­sum cy­mo­sum. (Boffi, 1972; Chao and Tsai, 1995; Hendler, et al., 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Mlade­nov and Emson, 1988; Smith­son­ian Ma­rine Sta­tion at Fort Pierce, 2010)

  • Range depth
    1 to 518 m
    3.28 to 1699.48 ft
  • Average depth
    259 m
    849.74 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi is ra­di­ally sym­met­ric as an adult, and is gen­er­ally found with six arms, but can be found with 1-7 arms. In­di­vid­u­als with fewer arms are in the process of re­gen­er­a­tion. Like other ophi­uroids, O. sav­i­gnyi has arms that are sharply de­mar­cated from the cen­tral disk. The arms are jointed and flex­i­ble and are usu­ally var­ie­gated with in­ter­mit­tent dark and light mark­ings. The an­i­mal's color ranges from mixes of green, brown, white, yel­low, and cream. The oral sur­face is lighter than the ab­o­ral sur­face. Aus­tralian mem­bers of this species have a brown disc with bright yel­low arms, but the species is usu­ally green or blue. The disc of the an­i­mal is 3.8-5 mm and darkly pig­mented with rough-tipped spines on top of the disc. The arms of the an­i­mal range from 16.3 mm-20 mm and have small, rough spines run­ning along them. The oral sur­face of the cen­tral disc con­tains one to three oral pa­pil­liae that are flat and scaly. In O. sav­i­gnyi, fis­sion causes species to have a vari­able num­ber of arms; spec­i­mens that re­cently split typ­i­cally have three large arms and three small re­gen­er­at­ing ones. (Hendler, et al., 1995; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Smith­son­ian Ma­rine Sta­tion at Fort Pierce, 2010; Stohr and Hans­son, 2009)

Sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion re­sults in plank­tonic ophio­plu­teus lar­vae that have bi­lat­eral sym­me­try. They are v-shaped and have a crys­talline skele­ton with curv­ing cil­i­ated bands for feed­ing. Ophio­plu­teus lar­vae are free swim­ming until they meta­mor­phose into adults. (Hendler, et al., 1995; Schoener, 1972)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike

De­vel­op­ment

The newly fer­til­ized eggs of O. sav­i­gnyi turn into ophio­plu­teus lar­vae. The lar­vae have a crys­talline skele­ton, are bi­lat­eral, and free-swim­ming. The exact amount of time be­fore meta­mor­pho­sis into a ra­dial, ben­thic adult is un­known, but it is es­ti­mated to be a month. In­di­vid­u­als pro­duced by fis­sion re­gen­er­ate into two adult or­gan­isms. (Boffi, 1972; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; Roy and Sponer, 2001; Schoener, 1972)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion by O. sav­i­gnyi in­volves broad­cast spawn­ing. Each sex scat­ters its ga­metes in the water col­umn. Dur­ing sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion ga­metes from dif­fer­ent colonies pre­sum­ably mix. Sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion is fol­lowed by asex­ual re­pro­duc­tion via fis­sion. The ma­jor­ity of in­di­vid­u­als lose the abil­ity to re­pro­duce sex­u­ally after split­ting. Sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion, in sum­mer and fall, is usu­ally fol­lowed by asex­ual re­pro­duc­tion. The sep­a­ra­tion of these two breed­ing modes may be be­cause after split­ting, O. sav­i­gnyi must re­gen­er­ate its lost limbs, which takes away from its abil­ity to pro­duce eggs and sperm. In both sexes the ga­metes of one or both of the newly di­vided brit­tle stars are re­ab­sorbed. When O. sav­i­gnyi reaches a large enough size, at least a 3.0 mm disc, it be­gins to spawn sex­u­ally. (Boffi, 1972; Chao and Tsai, 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; Mlade­nov and Emson, 1988; Schoener, 1972)

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi re­pro­duces ei­ther through asex­ual split­ting or sex­ual broad­cast spawn­ing. Asex­ual re­pro­duc­tion oc­curs by vol­un­tary split­ting down the or­gan­ism's cen­tral disc, pro­duc­ing two halves, which re­gen­er­ate into two func­tion­ing or­gan­isms; this and pre­da­tion ac­counts for odd num­ber of limbs found in some in­di­vid­u­als. In O. sav­i­gnyi si­mul­ta­ne­ous asex­ual and sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion is also known to occur, but ma­ture go­nads are usu­ally re­ab­sorbed in one or both freshly split clones, mak­ing si­mul­ta­ne­ous sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion un­likely. (Boffi, 1972; Chao and Tsai, 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006)

Sex­ual ma­tu­rity of O. sav­i­gnyi ap­pears to de­pend on size. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi dis­plays a dif­fer­ence in sex ratio that re­sults in a higher pro­por­tion of males than fe­males. This dif­fer­ence may be due to a greater in­vest­ment in gonad mass by fe­males. Males are more likely to re­tain their abil­ity to re­pro­duce after split­ting than fe­males, which may be the cause of the male bi­ased sex ratio. Sex­ual spawn­ing may re­sult in long-dis­tance col­o­niza­tion of sponges and algae by brit­tle stars and would also ac­count for the un­usual sex ratio; a sin­gle or­gan­ism can gen­er­ate an en­tire colony. In Har­ring­ton Sound, a sponge colony was found with an all male sex ratio that sup­ports this hy­poth­e­sis. (Chao and Tsai, 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; Mlade­nov and Emson, 1988)

  • Breeding interval
    Asexual and sexual year round, but sexual more frequent late summer to fall.

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi does not have any parental in­vest­ment. When large enough the or­gan­ism re­pro­duces sex­u­ally. Im­ma­ture and ma­ture or­gan­isms re­pro­duce by split­ting with both halves being au­tonomous. (Boffi, 1972; Hendler, et al., 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Mor­gado and Tanaka, 2001; Schoener, 1972)

  • Parental Investment
  • no parental involvement

Lifes­pan/Longevity

No in­for­ma­tion on the lifes­pan was found. (Boffi, 1972; Chao and Tsai, 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Roy and Sponer, 2001)

Be­hav­ior

This brit­tle star forms colonies made of asex­u­ally pro­duced clones, and the oc­ca­sional sex­u­ally ac­quired re­cruit. In­for­ma­tion on the lo­co­mo­tion specif­i­cally of O. sav­i­gnyi was not found. Other ophi­uroids move by pulling them­selves along with their flex­i­ble arms. They move in any di­rec­tion across the sub­strate and do not favor a par­tic­u­lar arm. An in­ter­est­ing dis­crep­ancy in dam­age-re­lease re­ac­tion time ex­ists be­tween pop­u­la­tions of this species on algae and sponges. The pop­u­la­tions stud­ied were close to each other. Dur­ing sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion ga­metes from dif­fer­ent colonies pre­sum­ably mix. The ex­pected re­sult from this in­ter­breed­ing is a sim­i­lar re­sponse sig­nal across all colonies, but this is not sup­ported by the data. This has led to the hy­poth­e­sis that Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi may be ex­hibit­ing learned be­hav­ior. More re­search is needed to sup­port this claim. (Majer, et al., 2009; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Mlade­nov and Emson, 1988)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi, like other ophi­uroids, per­ceives the en­vi­ron­ment by chemosen­sors in its tube feet. This brit­tle star is also able to de­tect very di­lute con­cen­tra­tions of amino acids, and vi­t­a­mins, which al­lows it to de­tect food and preda­tors. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi re­sponds to dam­age-re­lease alarm sig­nals. A di­ver­gence in re­sponse time to chem­i­cal alarm sig­nals oc­curs be­tween algae and sponge dwelling in­di­vid­u­als of the species. In­di­vid­u­als dwelling in an algae habi­tat re­spond to con­spe­cific (in­ter­species) and het­erospe­cific (among dif­fer­ent species) sig­nals. Sponge dwelling in­di­vid­u­als have lit­tle re­sponse to het­erospe­cific sig­nals. Sponge dwelling O. sav­i­gnyi are bet­ter pro­tected from preda­tors and do not have as much en­vi­ron­men­tal pres­sure as their algae dwelling mem­bers. This species also ex­hibits neg­a­tive pho­to­taxis (move away from light), and senses light from light-sen­si­tive cells in skele­tal plates within its der­mis. (Hendler, et al., 1995; Majer, et al., 2009; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a)

Food Habits

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi is de­tri­tophagous, i.e., it feeds mainly on small par­ti­cles of de­tri­tus. The stom­ach typ­i­cally con­tains foraminifer­ans, bry­ozoans, or­ganic de­tri­tus, and small gas­tropods. This brit­tle star is a sus­pen­sion feeder using its tube feet to catch small par­ti­cles and mov­ing them to­ward its mouth. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi is also char­ac­ter­ized as a de­posit feeder, clean­ing the outer sur­face of its habi­tat and fil­ter­ing food from the water. A large in­di­vid­ual sus­pen­sion feeds by rais­ing its arms into the water col­umn. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi will also sit­u­ate it­self at the base of the ex­cur­rent pore of a sponge to col­lect food par­ti­cles. (Hendler, et al., 1995; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006)

  • Animal Foods
  • mollusks
  • aquatic crustaceans
  • other marine invertebrates
  • zooplankton

Pre­da­tion

A de­fense mech­a­nism of O. sav­i­gnyi is its use of au­ton­omy (cast­ing off of limbs) when es­cap­ing preda­tors. It also is ca­pa­ble of re­gen­er­at­ing them. Neg­a­tive pho­to­taxis and dam­age-re­lease alarm sig­nals are also evolved char­ac­ter­is­tics to es­cape preda­tors. A fish may bite the brit­tle star into smaller pieces be­fore con­sum­ing it, so the abil­ity to lose and re­gen­er­ate limbs is an ad­van­tage. This species is prey to crabs and shrimp. (Hendler, et al., 1995; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi dom­i­nates sponge habi­tats and com­petes with other brit­tle stars for space. In the Caribbean it in­hab­its at least ten species of sponges. This brit­tle star also in­hab­its var­i­ous algae. Num­bers are greater in sponges than in algal turf, prob­a­bly be­cause sponges pro­vide a bet­ter refuge against preda­tors. Other than pro­vid­ing food for species of fish, shrimp, and crab, the species at times oc­cludes the ex­cur­rent siphon of sponges, which is po­ten­tially harm­ful. Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi acts as a de­tri­ti­vore and re­cy­cles dead plank­ton, bac­te­ria, small crus­taceans, and in­ver­te­brates.

Algae that O. sav­i­gnyi in­habit in­clude Hyp­nea species. Sponges that O. sav­i­gnyi in­habit in­clude Hal­i­clona species, Teda­nia ignis, Sco­palina ruet­z­leri, and Am­phime­don viridis. (Boffi, 1972; Chao and Tsai, 1995; Hendler, et al., 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; Mlade­nov and Emson, 1988)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi has no sig­nif­i­cant pos­i­tive im­pact on hu­mans. (; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

This species has no neg­a­tive im­pact on hu­mans or eco­nomic im­por­tance to them. (; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

The trop­i­cal brit­tle star, O. sav­i­gnyi, is not con­sid­ered en­dan­gered. This species has a global dis­tri­b­u­tion in trop­i­cal and sub­trop­i­cal re­gions, and is very abun­dant. (Chao and Tsai, 1995; Hendler, et al., 1995; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002a; Mc­Gov­ern, 2002b; McK­e­ton and Wood, 2006; Mlade­nov and Emson, 1988; Stohr and Hans­son, 2009)

Con­trib­u­tors

Jason Haas (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Renee Mul­crone (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Glossary

Atlantic Ocean

the body of water between Africa, Europe, the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), and the western hemisphere. It is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific Ocean.

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Australian

Living in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea and associated islands.

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Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.

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Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

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Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

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Pacific Ocean

body of water between the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), Australia, Asia, and the western hemisphere. This is the world's largest ocean, covering about 28% of the world's surface.

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Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

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asexual

reproduction that is not sexual; that is, reproduction that does not include recombining the genotypes of two parents

benthic

Referring to an animal that lives on or near the bottom of a body of water. Also an aquatic biome consisting of the ocean bottom below the pelagic and coastal zones. Bottom habitats in the very deepest oceans (below 9000 m) are sometimes referred to as the abyssal zone. see also oceanic vent.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

biodegradation

helps break down and decompose dead plants and/or animals

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

coastal

the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

cosmopolitan

having a worldwide distribution. Found on all continents (except maybe Antarctica) and in all biogeographic provinces; or in all the major oceans (Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific.

detritivore

an animal that mainly eats decomposed plants and/or animals

detritus

particles of organic material from dead and decomposing organisms. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers (organisms that decompose organic material).

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

external fertilization

fertilization takes place outside the female's body

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

filter-feeding

a method of feeding where small food particles are filtered from the surrounding water by various mechanisms. Used mainly by aquatic invertebrates, especially plankton, but also by baleen whales.

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

metamorphosis

A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.

molluscivore

eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

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pheromones

chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species

phytoplankton

photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae. (Compare to zooplankton.)

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

radial symmetry

a form of body symmetry in which the parts of an animal are arranged concentrically around a central oral/aboral axis and more than one imaginary plane through this axis results in halves that are mirror-images of each other. Examples are cnidarians (Phylum Cnidaria, jellyfish, anemones, and corals).

reef

structure produced by the calcium carbonate skeletons of coral polyps (Class Anthozoa). Coral reefs are found in warm, shallow oceans with low nutrient availability. They form the basis for rich communities of other invertebrates, plants, fish, and protists. The polyps live only on the reef surface. Because they depend on symbiotic photosynthetic algae, zooxanthellae, they cannot live where light does not penetrate.

saltwater or marine

mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

tactile

uses touch to communicate

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

visual

uses sight to communicate

year-round breeding

breeding takes place throughout the year

zooplankton

animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae. (Compare to phytoplankton.)

Ref­er­ences

Boffi, E. 1972. Eco­log­i­cal as­pects of ophi­uroids from the phy­tal of S. W. At­lantic Ocean warm wa­ters. Ma­rine Bi­ol­ogy, 15: 316-328.

Chao, S., C. Tsai. 1995. Re­pro­duc­tion and pop­u­la­tion dy­nam­ics of the fis­si­parous brit­tle star Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi (Echin­o­der­mata: Ophi­uroidea. Ma­rine Bi­ol­ogy, 124: 77-83.

Hendler, G., J. Miller, D. Paw­son, P. Kier. 1995. Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, and Al­lies Echin­o­derms of Florida and the Caribbean. Wash­ing­ton and Lon­don: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press.

Majer, A., J. Trigo, L. Duarte. 2009. Ev­i­dence of an alarm sig­nal in Ophi­uroidea (Echin­o­der­mata). Ma­rine Bio­di­ver­sity Records, 2: e102.

Mc­Gov­ern, T. 2002. Pat­terns of sex­ual and asex­ual re­pro­duc­tion in the brit­tle star Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi in the Florida Keys. Ma­rine Ecol­ogy Progress Se­ries, 230: 119-126.

Mc­Gov­ern, T. 2002. Sex-ra­tio bias and clonal re­pro­duc­tion in the brit­tlestar Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi. Evo­lu­tion, 56 (3): 511-517.

McK­e­ton, K., J. Wood. 2006. "Ma­rine In­ver­te­brates of Bermuda" (On-line). Lit­tle brit­tle star (Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi). Ac­cessed April 27, 2011 at http://​www.​thecephalopodpage.​org/​MarineInvertebrateZoology/​Ophiactissavignyi.​html.

Mlade­nov, P., R. Emson. 1988. Den­sity, size struc­ture and re­pro­duc­tive char­ac­ter­is­tics of fis­si­parous brit­tle stars in algae and sponges: ev­i­dence for in­ter­pop­u­la­tional vari­a­tion in lev­els of sex­ual and asex­ual re­pro­duc­tion. Ma­rine Ecol­ogy Progress Se­ries, 42: 181-194.

Mor­gado, E., M. Tanaka. 2001. The macro­fauna as­so­ci­ated with the bry­ozoan Schizo­porella er­rata (Wal­ters) in south­east­ern Brazil. Sci­en­tia Ma­rina, 65 (3): 173-181.

Roy, M., R. Sponer. 2002. Ev­i­dence of a hu­man-me­di­ated in­va­sion of the trop­i­cal west­ern At­lantic by the ‘world’s most com­mon brit­tlestar’. Pro­ceed­ings of the Royal So­ci­ety - Bi­o­log­i­cal Sci­ences, 269: 1017-1023. Ac­cessed April 23, 2011 at http://​www.​ncbi.​nlm.​nih.​gov/​pmc/​articles/​PMC1690993/​.

Roy, M., R. Sponer. 2001. The re­cent evo­lu­tion­ary his­tory of Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi (Echin­o­der­mata; Ophi­uroidea). Pp. 307-311 in M Barker, ed. Echin­o­derms 2000: pro­ceed­ings of the 10th in­ter­na­tional con­fer­ence, Dunedin, Vol. 1st edi­tion. Nether­lands: Aa Balkema. Ac­cessed April 23, 2011 at http://​books.​google.​com/​books?​id=NEog_​WHJ5HcC&​pg=PA307&​lpg=PA307&​dq=Ophiactis+savignyi&​source=bl&​ots=QMXwQgcU4X&​sig=PMPeVAuf6Ew17GClRIZ-_​CL78gk&​hl=en&​ei=K7t5S437JI2KnQe9l_​GnCQ&​sa=X&​oi=book_​result&​ct=result&​resnum=4&​ved=0CBAQ6AEwAzgK#​v=onepage&​q=&​f=false.

Schoener, A. 1972. Fe­cun­dity and pos­si­ble mode of de­vel­op­ment of some deep-sea ophi­uroids. Lim­nol­ogy and Oceanog­ra­phy, 17 (2): 193-199.

Smith­son­ian Ma­rine Sta­tion at Fort Pierce, 2010. "Field Guide to the In­dian River La­goon, Florida Sav­i­gny's Brit­tle Star Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi" (On-line). Smith­son­ian Ma­rine Sta­tion at Fort Pierce. Ac­cessed May 02, 2011 at http://​www.​sms.​si.​edu/​IRLFieldGuide/​Ophiac_​savign.​htm.

Stohr, S., H. Hans­son. 2009. "Ophi­ac­tis sav­i­gnyi (Müller & Troschel, 1842)" (On-line). World Reg­is­ter of Ma­rine Species. Ac­cessed April 23, 2011 at http://​www.​marinespecies.​eu/​aphia.​php?​p=taxdetails&​id=125122.