Brittle stars are sea star cousins that bury themselves for protection, leaving an arm or two free to catch bits of food. Sometimes this attracts a hungry fish but fortunately, a star can't be tugged out by the arm. The arm snaps off, and a new one grows from the stump. At night, a brittle star stretches out to catch food particles, passing the bits down to its central mouth. Used motor oil poured down the drain or on the ground winds up in rivers, lakes, and the ocean.
No matter what the source, oil harms ocean animals. Each year, Americans illegally dispose of million gallons of oil — twenty times the Exxon Valdez spill. The solution? Recycle the oil — it can be re-refined and reused. Whether miniscule or massive, marine invertebrates are incredibly interesting!
Explore below to learn more about these animals. Predatory tunicates anchor themselves in the deep sea, waiting for tiny animals to drift into their cavernous hoods. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems.
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If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. I had a population burst of them a while back, but now they're back to just a few. So, you're absolutely right about self regulation. I have lots of them and have for years. I was concerned about possible irritations but the corals haven't seemed to mind them at all , so I leave them alone. When I suck one out by accident, I put it back.
Originally Posted by Gary Majchrzak. The little fella marched out from beneath the hammer coral and started puffing away on extended legs. I only caught the very last second of the event with my picture.
Find More Posts by Gary Majchrzak. Good catch, Gary Nice picture GAry. Wow, that's cool. I have a serpent star and a brittle star. I've never actually seen a baby one, BUT I've seen what looks exactly like tiny versions of the banded serpent star legs stick out from crevices at feeding time. I've thought they might be baby stars, and based on your pic, I think I was right.
Originally Posted by coreenm. I used to hate them so much because they are everywhere, I think I must have had a thousand of them. It was covered in large sea hoppers technically amphipods and masses of bright red brittle-stars. So to answer my original question.
I like brittle-stars. I have liked them ever since my year 10 biology teacher pointed them out to me. Since they are everywhere across the seafloor, they are great to map see my previous blog post. For me they are a fine example of marine evolution. If we can understand how and where these guys evolved, maybe we can begin to grasp how life has originated and flourished on our blue planet.
I love reading your blog, just noted you say brittlestars have no eyes High opsin diversity in a non-visual infaunal brittle star.
BMC genomics, 15 1 , p. Thanks Mike Sure, I haven't forgotten that brittle-stars can detect light, that was nice work. But I still think they you cant really call them eyes in the classic sense. More biochemical than alluring. They are sort of faceless, just like the fish! I have a very large green brittle star bigger than my hand and I have a medium brown brittle star. You can read all over the Internet how green stars are killers and eat fish. That's not true at all.
Both stars live in a 55 gallon tank with 5 seahorses snails hermit crabs and various types of shrimp. You barely TO rarely see the starfish but they are in the hiding under rocks and alive and well.
The have all been tank mates for 6 months with no issues. They are great cleaners and cool to watch when you get to see them. Hi Bill. I haven't seen brittle stars eat fish either, certainly not live ones. Although there is great youtube video of a brittle star catching a small squid, captured on an Okeanos Explorer RoV.
Google "brittle star eats squid" and you will see what I mean. He named it the Game of Thrones Brittle Star, Ophiohamus georgemartini, because of its sharp thorns similar to those depicted on the Game of Thrones crown. Image: Caroline Harding Tim takes time out from his duties as chief scientist on the Investigator voyage to indulge his passion for brittle-stars. This cute and curly confection of brittle-stars surfaced towards the end of the RV Investigator voyage. Amphiophiura paraconcava was first described from a seamount in the Pacific Ocean.
Image: Asher Flatt They mostly eat organic debris on the seafloor or hold up mucus covered arms to collect small animals in the water. One species in common use warrants a statutory warning. This is the Green Brittle Star of the genus Ophiarachna. This animal is a predatory fish eater, that does indeed do a spiffy janitorial job when small This species has been documented to arch up in "sleeping caves" of captive fishes and drop down on unsuspecting meals.
If you use this species, keep an eye on it, and a count on your piscine livestock. A foot wide individual on the prowl! A retailers tank that has just had some fish-food water applied to it. Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large desktop size copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. Ophioderma ensiferum , the Gaudy Brittle Star, in an aquarium. Ophioderma rubicundum , the Ruby Brittle Star in St. Lucia out at night. A whole tank of Ruby Brittle Stars awaiting shipping at a L.
Disc size to 0. Feed on detritus both day and night by extending their arms from crevices, beneath rocks. Southern California to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos pic. Dark by day, grayish bands by night.
Found in association with living corals. Hawai'i' pic at night. Ophiocoma paucigranulata , the Spiny Brittle Star. Tropical West Atlantic. Have pale colored arms in their middles. Cozumel image at night. A cool water species, photographed here at the Birch Aq.
Black bodied with long arms.
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