NEW FINDINGS OF THE RARE BLACK BRITTLESTAR OPHIOCOMINA NIGRA (ABILDGAARD, IN O.F. MULLER, 1789) (ECHINODERMATA, OPHIACANTIDAE) IN THE SICILIAN CHANNEL

Fourteen specimens of Ophiocomina nigra were collected in a restricted area of the Sicilian Channel under the influence of Atlantic Ionian Stream, between 64 and 97 m depth. The species was associated with the sea urchin Stilocidaris affinis (Philippi, 1845), a species "characteristic" of the Coastal Detriticus biocenosis. The Sicilian Channel represents the eastern border of the species occurrence in the Mediterranean.