Cosmopolitan in temperate and warm temperate seas, intertidal to more than 200 m depth. Common among algae in tidepools and under stones in gravel.
In Panama this species has been collected from both the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific it was collected from Panama Bay (USNM E 27229, USNM E 27230, USNM E 27225, USNM E 27237, Centroid Latitude: 8.8769, Centroid Longitude: -79.5567), Gulf of Panama, while in the Caribbean Sea it is recorded from North of Palina Island (USNM 1117663 & USNM 1117664; Centroid Latitude: 9.6131, Centroid Longitude: -79.5972), Colon, and from Fort Randolph (USNM E 26409), Margarita Island, Limon Bay, from shallow water.
Amphipholis squamata is a species complex, the individual species only distinguishable by molecular markers (see Le Gac et al., 2004)
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Hansson, H.G. (2001). Echinodermata, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 336-351.
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Mah, C.L., D.G. McKnight, M.K. Eagle, D.L. Pawson, N. Ameziane, D.J. Vance, A.N. Baker, H.E.S. Clark, and N. Alcock. (2009). Phylum Echinodermata. In Gordon, D.P. (Ed.) The New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume 1. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch; 371-400.
Muller, Y. (2004). Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory]. Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France. 307 pp.
Pawson, D. L., D. J. Vance, C. G. Messing, F. A. Solis-Marin, and C. L. Mah. (2009). Echinodermata of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1177–1204 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College S.
Southward, E.C.; Campbell, A.C. (2006). [Echinoderms: keys and notes for the identification of British species]. Synopses of the British fauna (new series), 56. Field Studies Council: Shrewsbury, UK. ISBN 1-85153-269-2. 272 pp.
Trott, T.J. (2004). Cobscook Bay inventory: a historical checklist of marine invertebrates spanning 162 years. Northeastern Naturalist (Special Issue 2): 261 - 324.
LSID urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:125064
Hermaphrodite, possibly self-fertilising, viviparous. Broods young in bursal slits near arm attachment sites.
Amphioplus squamata (Delle Chiaje, 1828)
Amphipholis appressa Ljungman, 1872
Amphipholis australiana H.L. Clark, 1909
Amphipholis elegans (Farquhar, 1897)
Amphipholis japonica Matsumoto, 1915
Amphipholis kinbergi Ljungman, 1872
Amphipholis lineata Ljungman, 1872 (synonym)
Amphipholis minor (Döderlein, 1910)
Amphipholis tenera (Lütken, 1856) (synonym)
Amphipholis tenuispina (Ljungman, 1865) (synonym)
Amphipholis tissieri Reys, 1961
Amphiura elegans Farquhar, 1897 (synonym)
Amphiura neglecta Forbes, 1843
Amphiura parva Hutton, 1878
Amphiura squamata Delle Chiaje, 1828
Amphiura tenera Lütken, 1856
Amphiura tenuispina Ljungman, 1865 (synonym)
Asteria squamata Delle Chiaje, 1828
Asterias noctiluca Viviani, 1805 (according to Millott in Boolootian (1966))
Asterias squamata Delle Chiaje, 1828 (synonym)
Axiognathus squamata (Delle Chiaje, 1829) (synonym)
Ophiactis minor Döderlein, 1910
