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Feather Star (Stephanometra indica)
Monument, Lembeh. Night dive.
Tentative ID. There is only two species into the Stephanometra genus, both with overlapping distribution:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanometra
It is a medium sized feather star, with a relatively variable color pattern. Classically, it is gray-white concentrically barred cream, brown or orange. It has the peculiarity of having more often its arms in two parallel planes, like a fan, rather than as a bush or corolla. It stands at night at the summit of the corals, more or less perpendicular to the current.
Similar species: Feather Stars
By Patomarazul
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Uploaded Aug 15, 2018. Captured May 16, 2018 12:27 in Unnamed Road, Batulubang, Lembeh Sel., Kota Bitung, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia.
comments (8)
"Beneath the surface of the ocean is a world so mysterious, beautiful, and weird! Feather stars (Stephanometra indica) are one example of the strangely wonderful animals that live in this underwater environment. They are marine invertebrates with feathery arms that radiate from a central body. They can have as few as five arms or as many as 200, all of which are capable of regeneration! Often found curled up during the day, these stars wake up at night to move around and to feed. The process of feeding is pretty cool. They extend and sway their arms, which resemble ferns dancing in the water. These feathery arms capture plankton from the water, and the stars use their feet to transport the food toward their mouths. Every arm is covered in tiny tube feet, which cover the food with mucus. Each foot passes the mucus-covered snack along to the next foot until it finally reaches the mouth for ingestion and then egestion from the anus, which is conveniently located right next to the mouth. Whether they are feeding, swimming, crawling, or sitting placidly, these creatures are truly mesmerizing and exotic to our terrestrial sensibilities! {Spotted in Indonesia by JungleDragon moderator, Patomarazul} #JungleDragon"
Posted 3 years ago