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Plate of brittle stars from the Kunstformen der Natur from Ernst Haeckel (1904) Second plate of brittle stars from Haeckel. Between 2,064 [11] and 2,122 species of brittle stars are currently known, but the total number of modern species may be over 3,000. [12] This makes brittle stars the most abundant group of current echinoderms (before sea ...
Amphiuridae (commonly called long-armed burrowing brittle stars [2] or burrowing brittle stars) are a large family of brittle stars of the suborder Gnathophiurina.Some species are used to study echinoderm development (e.g. Amphipholis kochii [3] and Amphioplus abditus [4]) and bioluminescence (the dwarf brittle star, Amphipholis squamata [5] [6]).
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (/ ˌ æ s t ə ˈ r ɔɪ d i ə /). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish are also known as asteroids due to being in the class
They are then straightened as the brittle star raises itself onto the points. [7] By repeating these actions, the brittle star can creep forward at up to 50 centimetres (20 in) per minute. Any arm or pair of arms can be in the lead. [4] Ophionereis reticulata is an herbivore and filter feeder, but detritus and fragments of polychaete worm have ...
Numerous individuals of these two species sometimes form dense communities with hundreds of brittle stars per square metre. These beds may extend several hundred square metres over sandy and pebbly sediment on the sea floor and contain millions of brittle stars. [9] These can be either O. nigra or O. fragilis, or a mixed community of the two.
Spawning tends to occur at 6.5 to 7 °C (43.7 to 44.6 °F) in Alaska, and about a degree cooler than this further north in the White Sea. Several spawning events have occurred when warmer surface waters have down-welled into deep, colder water layers. [6] The larvae of brittle stars are known as ophiopluteus larvae and form part of the plankton.
Ophiothrix suensoni, Suenson's brittle star or the sponge brittle star, is a species of marine invertebrate in the order Ophiurida. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. It is included in the subgenus Acanthophiothrix making its full scientific name Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) suensoni. [1]
The Asterozoa are a subphylum in the phylum Echinodermata, within the Eleutherozoa.Characteristics include a star-shaped body and radially divergent axes of symmetry. The subphylum includes the classes Asteroidea (the starfish or sea stars), Ophiuroidea (the brittle stars and basket stars), Somasteroidea (early asterozoans from which the other classes most likely evolved), and Stenuroidea ...