How does a brittle star move?
Instead of crawling on hundreds of tube feet like starfish, brittle stars move fairly rapidly by wriggling their arms. These agile arms are supported by an internal skeleton of calcium carbonate plates that superficially look like vertebrae, and that are in fact called vertebral ossicles.
Why are brittle stars called brittle stars?
Brittle stars are named for the ease with which their arms break off when touched; these animals, known collectively as ophioroids, are also called serpent stars (ophis means snake in Greek) because their long arms resemble serpents.
How many legs does a brittle star have?
Brittle stars are known to either have 5/6 legs. Safe for your reef.
Where do brittle stars live?
the deep sea
Brittle stars live on spiny sponges and other sessile animals at the bottom of the deep sea, as well as by themselves and in abundant masses directly on the seafloor.
What do brittle starfish eat?
Being omnivores (mainly detritivores), a brittle star diet is composed of decaying plant matter, plankton, krill, and small fish. Serpent stars use their arms to get a good hold of their food before pushing their stomachs through their mouths to consume their prey.
Do brittle stars have eyes?
In the 23 August issue of Nature, a team of scientists reports that a brittle star species has turned its skeleton into a vast array of microscopic lenses that cover half its body. The lenses are the core of a remarkable visual system that allows the animals to find dark hiding places on the ocean bottom.
Why are brittle stars important?
Brittle stars play an important role in the Arctic food web. First, they are known to be seafloor ecosystem engineers. They reshape the seafloor sediment surface and influence the distribution of other seafloor species. They also provide nutrition to fish, sea stars and crab predators.
How do brittle stars breathe?
Brittle stars are bottom feeders, consuming small organic material found on the sea floor. Respiration occurs through cilia-line sacs located between the arm bases on the central disk.
What do brittle stars eat?
Brittle stars are scavengers that eat algae, plants, fish feces and other detritus as well as detritus and small oceanic organisms such as plankton.
How do brittle stars help the environment?
What does a brittle star eat?