Basket star

Basket stars, sometimes referred to as a "Shetland Argus",[1] are a taxon of brittle stars. They are treated as a suborder Euryalina[2] or order Euryalida.[3] Many of them have characteristic repeatedly branched arms. They generally live in deep sea habitats. However, they have been observed near 15 m or less in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. In the wild they may live up to 35 years. They weigh up to 5 kilograms (11 lb). Like other echinoderms, basket stars lack blood and achieve gas exchange via their water vascular system.

Basketstars
Astroboa nuda basket star feeding at night in the Red Sea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Echinodermata
Class:
Ophiuroidea
Order:
Phrynophiurida
Suborder:
Euryalina

Lamarck, 1816
Families

Asteronychidae
Asteroschematidae
Gorgonocephalidae
Euryalidae

The basket stars are the largest ophiuroids with Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni measuring up to 70 cm in arm length with a disk diameter of 14 cm.[4]

Systematics and phylogeny

The fossil record of this group is rather poor and only dates back to Carboniferous.[5] Basket stars are divided into the following families:

  • A basket star, located in an area known as "Star Wall", near Maori Bay, Cape Town, South Africa at a depth of approximately 28 m.
  • Close-up of Astroboa nuda basket star arm
  • Basket star taken from the Atlantic Ocean
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References
  1. "Shetland Argus". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  2. "Euryalina". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  3. Smith, A.B.; Paterson, G.L.J. (1995). "Ophiuroid phylogeny and higher taxonomy: Morphological, molecular and palaeontological perspectives". Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 114.
  4. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 1. Gale Cengage. 2003.
  5. Clarkson, E.; Clarkson, E.N.K. (1998). Invertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution (4 ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
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