#ophiuroids

[wikipediapictures]

Basket star

[wildlifetracker]

Brittle sea stars, class Ophiuroidea, at Monterey Bay Aquarium

[psikonauti]

Brittle stars and squat lobsters

[sitting-on-me-bum]

A brilliant blue brittle star.

Joe Dovala / Getty Images

Brittle Stars of the Sea

Brittle stars are an echinoderm with whip-like arms

by Jennifer Kennedy - ThoughtCo.

Updated April 22, 2017

Brittle stars are echinoderms - so, they are related to sea stars (commonly called starfish) although their arms and central disk are much more distinct than those of sea stars. Since brittle stars are in the Class Ophiuroidea, they are sometimes referred to as ophiuroids.

Photo: Simon Chung - flickr

Photo: Richard Ling - flickr

Photo: jsutcℓiffe - flickr

Photo: cathyzura - flickr

Photo: Michael Zeigler - flickr

Photo: Ron Wolf - flickr

[wikipediapictures]

Basket star

“Basket star on sea fan, taken at the dive site Fan Reef, also known as Fantastic Reef, a small offshore rocky reef in the Castle Rocks area on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[wikipediapictures]

Basket star

[escuerzoresucitado]

Brittle star

[ahaikuaday]

In enduring realms of sky above and the sea below, brittle stars. (6-12-12)