Ophiocomella ophiactoides (H. L. Clark, 1901) Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea): taxonomia, habitats, distribuição, estatura e reprodução clonal em ambientes tropicais do Atlântico Sul Ocidental entre as latitudes de 12 e 16º (Bahia, Brasil).

Abstract

Ophiocomella ophiactoides brittle star’s is a small, cryptic and hexamerous Ophiocomidae that reproduces sexually and mainly asexually by cloning, making this species a potential model for studies of cloning and tissue regeneration, however, the basic aspects related to their taxonomy and bio-ecology need to be better known before using this species in applied studies. The main objectives of this Thesis was to identify and solve problems of taxonomic patterns of known geographical distribution, spatial and temporal of the O. ophiactoides, verify that this species prefer certain substrata types, check whether there is correlation between the density of species with standards global climate, and characterize the populations of the different localities studied for body height and asexual reproduction by cloning. Were collected quarterly from March 2009 to December 2010 in coral reefs and beach rocks located between latitudes 12 and 16 ° S and conducted laboratory experiments to determine the preference of species for certain substrata. The traditional taxonomy resolved, effectively, problems related to the identification of existing O. ophiactoides since its discovery in 1901, without the application of complex and expensive techniques, revealing that the morphological knowledge of a species, coupled with critical thinking and skill the taxonomist can still resolve to the satisfaction, issues related to diagnosis and classification of species within the morphological concept, confirming the importance of taxonomy and taxonomists in the construction of scientific knowledge on biodiversity. The species O. ophiactoides prefers calcareous algae green and red depending on the architecture and more complex morphology that the species of these groups present. This complexity, in turn, provides greater protection from the brittle star regarding the hydrodynamics of the environment, which would remove them from their habitat to the morphology of the thallus, was simple, as seen in some non-calcareous green algae. The year in which the study was conducted were under the influence of events El Niño and La Niña, which recorded thermal anomalies on the surface of the southern Atlantic Ocean and drier periods during El Niño. The global weather patterns were reflected in the fluctuation rates of precipitation and regional days of rain, which results in a lack of seasonal climate for these variables during the study period. The month of December 2009 was atypical, extremely dry and hot, coinciding with higher intensity of El Niño in 2009, indicating a sharp drop in the density of most populations of O. ophiactoides, except for the population of the Coroa Vermelha reef located farther south O. ophiactoides presented latitudinal distribution of the discontinuous type and spatial distribution of the aggregate type, with the populations concentrating on the places of less exposure time during low tide. The lack of standard attributes for the population studied, including populations located in the same latitude as Praia do Forte and Itapuã, particularly with regard to density and temporal distribution, show that the populations of O. ophiactoides are distinct and dynamics is governed by the same local characteristics of each locality. The constancy in the average body height and clonal reproduction of continuous populations in Bahia O. ophiactoides reveal the absence of these attributes to seasonal population along the coastline. Unlike density, body height and clonal reproduction were not modified according to the extreme weather conditions such as El Niño event in December 2009. The body size of O. ophiactoides clonal reproduction, as regards the stages of regeneration and configuration of the arms, shows the same pattern in the tropical Southern Hemisphere (Current Guyana biogeographic province,