Ophioplinthaca defensor Koehler, 1930

Fig. 14

Ophioplinthaca defensor Koehler, 1930: 84-86, pl. 9, figs1, 2; Na et al. 2021: 3-6, figs 2, 4.

Material examined.

Northwest Pacific • 1 specimen; near Mariana Trench, Southwest of Guam Island, seamount; 12°8.83'N, 139°0.37'E; depth 1987 m; 27 November 2020; Collecting event: stn. SC041; Shenhaiyongshi msv leg; preserved in -80°C; GenBank: OK043836; IDSSE-EEB-SW0112 .

Distribution.

385-2000 m depth, Southwest of Guam Island, Caiwei Guyot, Weijia Guyot, Batiza Guyot, Northwest Pacific, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Tasman Sea.

Remarks.

Ophioplinthaca defensor was first described by Koehler (1930) based on a single specimen. However, Na et al. (2021) provided rich details of morphological variation from juvenile to adult O. defensor, and the specimen from our collection concurs with their intraspecific morphological variations (Fig. 14I-Q).