There are a few species of shallow water brittle stars.
Sea floor engineers brittle stars.
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First they are known to be seafloor ecosystem engineers.
They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomotion.
Brittle stars occupy many marine habitats often at great depths.
Compared to sea stars brittle stars arms and central disk are much more distinctly separated and their arms allow them to move gracefully and purposefully in a rowing movement.
They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomotion.
Brittle stars ophiuroidea are a group of echinoderms that resemble starfish.
Brittle stars play important ecological roles in these deep sea habitats.
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Many species act as ecosystem engineers by digging through sediments on the seafloor while others recycle nutrients in their roles as scavengers and detritivores providing key sources of nutrition to other organisms including fish starfish and invertebrate predators such as crabs.
And some are active predators detecting food by its odor.
They are capable of moving jerkily but usually cling to the seafloor or to sponges or cnidarians e g coral.
These species live in the sand or mud just below the low tide mark.
Brittle stars or ophiuroids are echinoderms in the class ophiuroidea closely related to starfish.
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There are about 1500 species of brittle stars alive today and most species inhabit marine habitats with depths greater than 1500 feet.
Brittle stars or serpent stars ophiuroidea ophiurida are closely related to starfish.
The ophiuroids generally have five long slender whip like arms which may reach up to 60 cm 24 in in length on the largest specimens.
The brittle stars generally have five long slender whip like arms which may reach up to 24 inches in length on the largest specimens.
Brittle stars are mainly deposit feeders scavengers and plankton feeders.
They reshape the seafloor sediment surface and influence the distribution of other seafloor species.
They also provide nutrition to fish sea stars and crab predators.
Brittle stars play an important role in the arctic food web.
Different species of brittle stars eat in different ways some are suspension feeders and eat food particles suspended in the water.
Some are deposit feeders and feed on organic particles that settle on the seafloor.
However they sometimes trap sizable animals.
Brittle stars ophiurida are echinoderms the same family that includes sea stars commonly called starfish sea urchins sand dollars and sea cucumbers.
