Description
Also known as Beautiful Feather Star, Bi-colour Feather Star, Burgundy Feather Star, Comasteroid Crinoid, Crinoid, Feather Star Criniod, Feather Starfish, Firework Feather Star, Red Feather Star, Red Feather Starfish, Red Star Feather, Sea Lily, Storked Sea Lily.
Found singly or in groups, clinging to corals during the day on high coral ledges and outcrops in clear current prone areas of the reef rich in plankton.
They are found nocturnally free swimming hunting for their food of detritus and plankton.
Length - 20cm
Depth - 0-60m
Widespread Indo-West Pacific
Feather stars are usually found curled up during the day, but at night they extend their feathery arms to catch plankton in the currents.
They float, crawl, roll, walk or even swim through the current to different locations.
Some small animals like clingfish and crustaceans can be found in the arms of feathers stars.
Feather stars have both their mouth and anus on the upper surface.
Very much like sea stars if their arms are damaged they can regenerate at will. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himerometra_robustipinna
1 comment
Awesome !! I Saw a video of this fish without a name or description and wanted to figure out what it was. Thanks for all this great info.