The Echinoid Directory

Oligopodia Duncan, 1889, p. 176

[=Nucleolus von Martens, 1866; type species Nucleolus epigonus von Martens, 1866, (objective); =Mecostobrissus Lambert, 1912; type species Echinobrissus daleaui Cotteau, 1887 ]

Diagnostic Features	Test of small size, ovoid, in shape; aboral side low arched, the posterior ambulacram slightly raised so as to form a low keel. Oral side weakly concave, sunken towards the peristome. Apical system monobasal, positioned somewhat anterior, with four genital pores. Ambulacra distinctly petaloid aborally, the petals flush with the test, equally long, open distally; rather narrow. Periproct on the truncated posterior end of the test, at the upper end of a shallow subanal groove. Peristome, longitudinally oval, subcentral. Bourrelets; distinct zones of specialized spines and tubercles largely confined to vertical-walled entrance to the peristome. Phyllodes, moderately developed; pores forming an inner and outer series; buccal pores present at edge of peristome well. Primary spines short, simple, smooth, distinctly curved, miliary spines smooth, with a slightly widened terminal crown.
Distribution	Eocene-Recent (according to Kier (1962)).
Name gender	feminine
Type	Nucleolites epigonus von Martens, 1865, p. 179 by original designation.
Species Included	O. epigonus (von Martens) Recent; Indian Ocean.
Classification and/or Status	Irregularia; Cassiduloida; \'Gitolampadids\'.
Remarks	Nucleolites epigonus von Martens, 1865. Uber neue ostasiatische Echiniden. Monatsber. Akad. Berlin, p. 143. Duncan, P. M. 1889. A revision of the genera and great groups of the Echinoidea. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 23, 1-311. Kier, P. M. 1962. Revision of the cassiduloid echinoids. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 144, (3), 262 pp.