Basket Star Arms

Basket Star Arms - Belize

Basket Stars are one of the stranger cousins of starfish. These creatures look so plantlike that I don't know
how long I have been diving without recognizing these as living animals! These echinoderms attach themselves
to a coral head or sea fan. During the day it coils itself into a knotted ball, but at night it stretches out all
of it's legs into a basket-like shape, fishing for plankton and other microscopic critters.
This photo shows an extreme close-up of a section of a large Basket Star.

Aqua-Gallery Main - Home Page
Things With Fins - Creatures - Coral and Sponges - Above Water