What is the common name of brittle star?

brittle star, also called serpent star, any of the 2,100 living species of marine invertebrates constituting the subclass Ophiuroidea (phylum Echinodermata). Their long, thin arms—usually five and often forked and spiny—are distinctly set off from the small disk-shaped body.

1. How do brittle stars get their name?
2. What is a brittle star?
3. What is the name of the only hermaphroditic brittle starfish?
4. What do sea stars and brittle stars have in common?
5. How many brittle stars are there?
6. Are brittle stars herbivores?
7. Are brittle stars omnivores?
8. What color is a brittle star?
9. Are brittle stars carnivores?
10. When was the brittle star discovered?
11. Where are brittle starfish found?
12. Is a brittle star multicellular?

How do brittle stars get their name?

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.

What is a brittle star?

Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomotion. ... Over 2,000 species of brittle stars live today. More than 1200 of these species are found in deep waters, greater than 200 m deep.

What is the name of the only hermaphroditic brittle starfish?

Reproduction and life span

The sexes of brittle stars are separate in most species, though a few, such as Amphipholis squamata, are hermaphroditic. Gonads, found only in the disc, open into the pouches in the integument between radii, called genital bursae. Gametes are then shed by way of the bursal sacs.

What do sea stars and brittle stars have in common?

We will start with what they have in common. Both sea stars and brittle stars are in the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes sea cucumbers, sea urchins and more. ... They also have the unusual ability to regrow lost body parts, and sea stars and brittle stars can regrow arms if broken off or eaten.

How many brittle stars are there?

There are around 2,000 species of brittle star — more than any other group of sea stars.

Are brittle stars herbivores?

Although most brittle stars are herbivores or detrital feeders, some are known to be carnivorous. Like all echinoderms, brittle stars have a calcite skeleton called a test. Unlike in true sea stars (asteroidea), brittle stars have flexible arms and do not use tube feet in locomotion .

Are brittle stars omnivores?

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.

What color is a brittle star?

Brittle stars can be as large as 2 ft (0.6 m) in diameter or as small as a few millimeters. Ophioroids are usually a drab green, grey, or brown, but some have variegated color patterns. Some species of brittle stars glow in the dark-a bright green luminescence appears if they are disturbed.

Are brittle stars carnivores?

Other brittle stars are carnivores that use their arms to sweep tiny creatures to their mouths. Yet others are scavengers, nibbling on their food with their jaws or using the tube feet near their mouth.

When was the brittle star discovered?

O'Hara discovered the brittle star in 2015, in a barrel of unidentified specimens stored in the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris. The specimen was collected in 2011, during an expedition to New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific.

Where are brittle starfish found?

Brittle stars occur in all the world's oceans from the deep sea to intertidal zones, and including salt and brackish polar areas, temperate, and tropical waters. The region with the highest species richness of brittle stars is the Indo-Pacific region with 825 species at all depths.

Is a brittle star multicellular?

That is, they are able to exist in both a unicellular and multicellular form, depending on environmental conditions, such as nutrient availability or fluctuations in temperature, growing as a mold, for example, at 25 °C (77 °F), and as yeast cells at 37 °C (98.6 °F).