From the Depths

Welcome back to my weekly series From the Depths.

The oceans are filled with amazing diverse creatures, some so bizarre the defy explanation to simple and mundane.

Let me weave you a tale of one of the most unique sea stars dwelling our sea. Ok so what on Earth is going on here? There must be a million creatures in there! Or at least one of those crazy corals that are actually composed of millions of creatures.

Nope. This is one, solitary Basket Star.

Basket Stars are a group of exceedingly peculiar Brittle Stars. If you thought Brittle Stars were like strange starfish, well... it only gets stranger.

They're found all over the world, but most of them live in the deep sea. The world's biggest Brittle Star is actually a Basket Star. It reaches 70 cm across when you include the arms, 14 cm if you only count the central disc.

Basket Star have 5 arms sprouting from their central disc, same as any Brittle Star. But madness immediately ensues. Each arm branches out over and over and over again until you end up with a kind of mesh, the basket. These arms are incredibly flexible tendrils perfect for snagging a meal in the current that flows by.

These stars will crawl up on a sponge or coral. Whatever they need to get an adequate current. Unfurling that ridiculous kerfuffle of arms forms the basket so they can catch their prey. Some of them eat plankton, others will grab hold of small crustaceans and coil their tendrils around them in a horror movie sort of way. Their arms are... armed... with spines and hooks which aid in them catching their prey. If the current is too much for them they'll curl up to avoid getting swept away.

These creatures are an amazing mixture of delicate beauty and obnoxious fleshiness. Just like many other creatures you just have to learn about what they are.

Thanks for reading.

Scott

For more stories and photos - http://www.scottstevensonphotography.ca/