Feather stars occur chiefly on rocky bottoms in shallow water. They are most abundant from the Indian Ocean to Japan. Feather stars are not widely used for human purposes. Feather stars sometimes stop feeding and roll up their arms, for example to hide from predators.
Feather stars inherit their name from the feathery appearance of their arms. Feather stars are unstalked crinoids that live in both shallow water and the depths of the ocean. Feather stars are considered to be one of the most amazing and unique sea creatures because they look like plants.
Feather stars are Crinoids, members of the phylum Echinodermata. All are filter feeders, and, as far as is currently known, all are carnivores. Feather stars can have as few as five arms and as many as 200 arms. Their appendages are used to catch food. Some feather stars are also toxic.
Approximately 625 species of crinoids still survive today. They are the descendants of the crinoids which survived the mass extinction. Fish may comb through feather stars looking for food. Feather stars look like plants with branching appendages billowing from a central point. But they are animals known as echinoderms. Some feather stars are toxic. Fish eat feather stars.
Human uses: Feather stars are not widely used for human purposes. Although they almost invariably die a slow death from starvation in marine aquariums, they are sometimes taken for the live aquarium trade.
Can a feather star be a pet?
The feather star is a marine animal with unique appearance. Feather stars contribute greatly to their environment and ecosystem. They are of phylum Echinodermata, class Crinoidea. Feather stars have arms with fringes used for swimming. The arms number five usually.
Feather stars look like plants with branching appendages. But they are animals, echinoderms. Known as sea lilies, feather stars related to sea stars. They raise arms to catch food particles. Then food passed to mouth along groove in each arm. Tiny hairs shuffle food along.
Success rate with feather stars in reef tanks is low. They are suspension feeders, difficult to care for. Feather stars born with stem, shed when adult. They can have five to 200 arms. Arms fall off over time. Without arms no feeding occurs, slowly starves. Proper care is not known. Feather stars should not be kept as pets currently.
Feather stars filter feed on planktonic foods. They use arms to capture particles and move food to mouth. Best to have excess plankton for them. From fast, shallow waters where they swim and hang on rocks, plants. Characterized by feather-like arms used for feeding and movement. Found in oceans worldwide, from reefs to deep trenches. Come in variety of shapes, sizes and colors.
Over 500 feather star species exist from littoral zone to deep waters. Related to urchins, starfish and cucumbers. At first glance, look like plants with branching appendages.
How big can a feather star get?
Feather stars are stunning creatures to observe. They have a light, feathery appearance that is quite ethereal and can be easily mistaken for plants. Feather stars use their grasping arms to perch on sponges, corals, or other substrata and feed on drifting microorganisms, trapping them in the sticky arm grooves. Feather stars feed on tiny drifting organisms and particles, gathering these passively from the water by adjusting their arms to maximise the filter feeding area relative to the water flow. Crinoids are beautiful creatures that swim through the water with grace. Although they are not true sea stars, they are still echinoderms. All feather stars are filter feeders, and, as far as is currently known, all are carnivores. Typically growing between 10-20 cm, but reaching up to 35 cm or more in the largest species (Heliometra glacialis), feather stars can be found in colors ranging from purple, red, black, green, white, orange, yellow, brown, as well as multi-colored individuals.
Born with a stem that they shed in adulthood, feather stars can have as few as five arms and as many as 200. Feather Star Anatomy. Feather stars consist of a stem or stalk which is present in juveniles and absent in adults, and a crown which has a cup-shaped body called the theca. Feather stars can be found in almost all oceans and are most commonly spotted in the waters of the Atlantic, Antarctic (Southern Ocean), Indian, and Pacific oceans, but can also be spotted in the tropical waters of the Carrabiean Sea.
Just like all other echinoderms, they have pentameral symmetry, which means that their parts occur in patterns of five or multiples of five. The arms of feather stars are about 0.4 to 14 inches long. Before DNA sequencing became available in 1977, Antarctic feather stars were thought to belong to a single species called Promachocrinus kerguelensis. Some feather stars are also toxic, helping them avoid getting eaten.
Why is the feather star important?
Feather stars are echinoderms. They have branching appendages billowing from a central point, resembling a potted fern. However, they are animals, not plants. Some species are toxic, avoiding predation. Their multiple arms function to feed and move. Ranging five to 200 arms per species, each extends up to a foot long.
Born with stalks shed in adulthood, feather stars reside in warm currents. This reduces predation on offspring and facilitates regeneration if arms are lost. Strong currents enable feeding. Constant movement and filter feeding also promote circulation, benefiting coral reef and seabed health.
Although enduring over time, threats exist. Climate change brings feather stars into spotlight. As oceans warm, their ecosystem presence gains significance. Predators like fish and crustaceans rely on them as food sources, within the marine chain.
Conservation necessitates understanding connections between feather stars and climate change. Some initial research occurred. However, overall attention was lacking until now. Angela Stevenson pioneered examining the link between feather stars and global warming.
The species contributes uniquely to ocean biodiversity. Resembling strange bird-plant-fish combinations, they instantly enthrall. Diverse sizes, shapes and colors attract photographers and scientists alike. Worth knowing more about, the alien-like feather star remains a bizarre ocean denizen.