Intertidal Ophiuroidea from the Saurashtra coastline, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Present communication reports the diversity of intertidal Ophiuroidea (Phylum: Echinodermata) from the intertidal zones of the Saurashtra coastline, Gujarat state. Saurashtra coastlines were extensively surveyed from January 2019 to March 2022 for the Ophiuroidea diversity. A total of nine species of Ophiuroidea belonging to eight genera and six families were noted from the intertidal zones of the Saurashtra coastline. Amongst these, Macrophiothrix variabilis, Ophiothrix savignyi and Ophiomaza cacaotica are newly observed species from the Gujarat coastline. The results of similarity indices show that each sampling site has a diverse variety of brittle star, making them spatially different from each other.