Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Ophiocomella alexandri (Lyman, 1860)

Alexander's spiny brittle star

Depth: intertidal to 30 m, extended to 710 m by museum records.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Echinodermata

Class
Ophiuroidea

Order
Ophiacanthida

Suborder
Ophiodermatina

Family
Ophiocomidae

Genus
Ophiocomella

Species
alexandri

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Ophiocoma alexandri Lyman, 1860 (transferred to Ophiocomella by O'Hara et al. (2018), fide Horton et al. (2021)

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: South of California, Revillagigedos, Cocos, Malpelo, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Malpelo and Ecuador including Galapagos Islands

References

  • Maluf, L.Y. (1991) Echinoderm Fauna of the Galápagos Islands. In: James, M.J. (ed.): Galápagos Marine Invertebrates. Taxonomy, Biogeography, and Evolution in Darwin's Islands. Plenum Press, New York and London, p. 345-367.
  • Constant, P. (2007) Marine Life of the Galapagos. The Diver's guide to Fishes, Whales, Dolphins and marine Invertebrates, 307 pp.
  • Sonnenholzner, J. Brand, M., Francisco, V., Hearn, A., Luzuriaga, M., Guarderas, P & Navarro, J. (2013) Echinoderms of Ecuador. In: Alvarado, J & Solís-Marín, A. (eds.) (2013) Echinoderm research and Diversity in Latin America. 183-233 pp.
  • Horton, T. Horton, T., Kroh, A., Ahyong, S., Bailly, N., Boyko, C. B., Brandão, S. N., Gofas, S., Hooper, J. N. A., Hernandez, F., Holovachov, O., Mees, J., Molodtsova, T. N., Paulay, G., Decock, W., Dekeyzer, S., Poffyn, G., Vandepitte, L., Vanhoorne, B., Adlard, R., ... Zhao, Z. (2021) World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Ophiocomella alexandri", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=18997. Accessed 26 August 2025.