Molecular phylogeny of the order Euryalida (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea), based on mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal genes.

The existing taxonomy of Euryalida, one of the two orders of the Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata), is uncertain and characterized by controversial delimitation of taxonomic ranks from genus to family-level. Their phylogeny was not studied in detail until now. We investigated a dataset of sequence from a mitochondrial gene (16S rRNA) and two nucleic genes (18S rRNA and 28S rRNA) for 49 euryalid ophiuroids and four outgroup species from the order Ophiurida. The monophyly of the order Euryalida was supported as was the monophyly of Asteronychidae, Gorgonocephalidae and an Asteroschematidae+Euryalidae clade. However, the group currently known as the Asteroschematidae was paraphyletic with respect to the Euryalidae. The Asteroschematidae+Euryalidae clade, which we recognise as an enlarged Euryalidae, contains three natural groups: the Asteroschematinae (Asteroschema and Ophiocreas), a new subfamily Astrocharinae (Astrocharis) and the Euryalinae with remaining genera. These subfamilies can be distinguished by internal ossicle morphology.