Red Feather Star (by clownfish33)
“This red beauty is a Crinoid. Known as sea lilies or feather-stars, Crinoids are actually marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms. Crinoidea comes from the Greek word krinon, “a lily”, and eidos, “form”. They live both in shallow water and in depths as great as 6,000 meters and are are characterized by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They unfurl their arms and feed at night on plankton that floats by on the currents. While most crinoids are free-floating, some, like this one, anchor down to corals or rocks. While they appear motionless, they can actually “uproot” themselves and walk very slowly.”
