Biodiversity & Conservation

Small brittle star - Amphipholis squamata

Amphipholis squamata

Image Judith Oakley - A group of Amphipholis squamata on a rocky shore. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Amphipholis squamata recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Amphipholis squamata is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Echinodermata Starfish, brittlestars, sea urchins & sea cucumbers
Class Stelleroidea Starfish, sea stars, cushion stars and brittlestars
Authority Delle Chiaje, 1867
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland This species is widely distributed throughout the British Isles and Ireland. It is often overlooked, and therefore probably under recorded.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Amphipholis squamata can be found intertidally and in shallow water; under stones, amongst rockpool weeds and occasionally on sandy bottoms. It is also found amongst algal and bryozoan turfs.
Text page icon Description Amphipholis squamata is a small inconspicuous brittle star, with a circular disc and spindly arms. It is grey/bluish-white in colour. The disc has a diameter ranging between 3-5 mm, with its dorsal surface covered in small scales. The arms are up to 20 mm in length (approximately 4 x the length of the disc) and consist of numerous marginal plates each with 3 or 4 conical arm spines. The mouth shields are small rhomboids, with very broad mouth papillae.
Identifying features
  • Small inconspicuous brittle star.
  • Circular disc 3-5 mm in diameter, with small scales covering dorsal surface.
  • Thin arms 20 mm in length.
  • Grey/bluish-white in colour.
Additional information icon Additional information This species is a deposit feeder collecting particles within its tube feet, and a suspension feeder via trapping detritus in mucus. It is hermaphroditic and the eggs are brooded and hatched as juveniles.

This review can be cited as follows:

Sonia Rowley 2006. Amphipholis squamata. Small brittle star. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 18/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2499>