Amphipholis squamata, (Delle Chiaje, 1828)
Amphipholis squamata, common names brooding snake star and dwarf brittle star, is a species complex of brittle stars in the family Amphiuridae.
This species is small, grey to bluish-white, and phosphorescent. Brooding individuals emit more light than non-brooding individuals. It has thin, short arms around 20 mm long. The round disc is 3 to 5mm, and has a scale covering with D-shaped radial plates. It has rhombic-shaped mouth shields and extremely wide mouth papillae.
Amphipholis squamata is found in all parts of the British Isles and also in Ireland. It has been recorded in many other parts of the world, including France,New Zealand and other places, with one conference paper referring to it as a cosmopolitan species. Molecular studies have shown that there are multiple species in this complex.
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