Specimen image via iDigBio · BY-NC
Astrophyton
Sign in to saveAstrophyton muricatum, the giant basket star, is an echinoderm found in shallow parts of the tropical western Atlantic and throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the only species in the genus Astrophyton. During the day, it curls up into a tight ball shape to protect itself from predators. At night, it climbs to an elevated point to feed by extending its intricately branched feeding arms in a bowl-like shape in order to snare passing plankton and other organisms from the current.
Species
Genus
- PhylumEchinodermata
- ClassOphiuroidea
- OrderEuryalida
- FamilyGorgonocephalidae
via
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 46
- With media
- 8
- Family
- Gorgonocephalidae
- Collections
- USNM, YPM, NHMUK, CHAS, UF, TCWC
- Recorded in
- Canada, Guadeloupe, United States, Martinique, Barbados, New Zealand, Australia, Japan
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Gorgonocephalidae
- Image
- Astrophyton muriatum - Basket star.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Astrophyton
- taxon name
- Astrophyton
- taxon rank
- genus
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- Behaviour
- References
- External links
Astrophyton muricatum, the giant basket star, is an echinoderm found in shallow parts of the tropical western Atlantic and throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the only species in the genus Astrophyton. During the day, it curls up into a tight ball shape to protect itself from predators. At night, it climbs to an elevated point to feed by extending its intricately branched feeding arms in a bowl-like shape in order to snare passing plankton and other organisms from the current.
==Description== The giant basket star is a very large echinoderm that can reach a diameter of nearly a metre when its arms are fully extended. It has a central disc and eight slender, flexible arms that repeatedly divide to form a fine-meshed net-like structure. The colour is generally brown or black.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Astrophyton” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.