Report | February 23, 2022

First record of the basket star Astrospartus mediterraneus (Risso, 1826) (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) in the Libyan waters.

The basket star Astrospartus mediterraneus (Risso, 1826) is an echinoderm of the family gorgonocephalidae Ljungman, 1867. A. meditteraneus is only known from the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean (European waters) ([1]). In the Mediterranean Sea, the basket star is the only species of the genus Astrospartus Döderlein, 1911, and it is known from its western and central basins ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]). It is also present in the Adriatic, Aegean and Alboran Seas ([7]). For the south Mediterranean Sea, A. mediterraneus is common for the Morroco ([3]) and Algerian ([8]) waters and is already known from the Tunisian waters ([9]). However, it has never been reported from the Libyan waters. Therefore, this note constitutes a first record of the basket star Astrospartus mediterraneus in the Libyan waters.