Basket star
Large brittle stars with branching arms, found in deep seas.
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Basket stars are a group of large brittle stars in the suborder Euryalina, characterized by repeatedly branched arms. They are notable for being the largest ophiuroids, with some species reaching up to 70 cm in arm length.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumEchinodermata
- ClassOphiuroidea
- OrderPhrynophiurida
Named by Lamarck, 1816
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Basket star (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Maximum arm length
- 70 cm / 2 ft 4 in
- Maximum disk diameter
- 14 cm / 5.51 in
- Maximum weight
- 5 kg / 11 lb
- Maximum lifespan
- 35 years
- Families
- Asteronychidae (4 genera, 11 species)
- Euryalidae (11 genera, 89 species)
- Gorgonocephalidae (34 genera, 96 species)
- Fossil record earliest
- Carboniferous
Facts from the source article.
Background
Basket stars belong to the suborder Euryalina, which is sometimes listed as the order Euryalida. Many species have repeatedly branched arms, a shape known as 'basket stars', which includes most Gorgonocephalidae and two species in the family Euryalidae. Other species in the suborder have long, curling arms and are called 'snake stars', mostly abyssal species.
Many basket stars live in deep sea habitats or cold waters, though some can be seen at night in shallow tropical reefs. Most young basket stars live on a specific type of coral. In the wild, they may live up to 35 years and weigh up to 5 kilograms.
Like other echinoderms, basket stars lack blood and achieve gas exchange via their water vascular system. The largest ophiuroids are basket stars, with Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni measuring up to 70 cm in arm length with a disk diameter of 14 cm. The fossil record of this group is rather poor and only dates back to the Carboniferous.
More in Brittle Stars
Elsewhere in Sea Cucumbers and Brittle Stars
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Basket star (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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