Fossil Gorgonocephalid Basket Stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Euryalida) from the Middle Pleistocene of Japan; the First Record from the Indo-Pacific Region

Disarticulated fossil euryalid ophiuroid vertebrae from the Middle Pleistocene Miyata Formation, Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, are described. The vertebrae are assigned to the family Gorgonocephalidae on the basis of arm branching and the presence of an open oral groove along the entire arm. This is the first record of fossil euryalids from the Indo-Pacific region.