1. Home
  2. Multimedia
  3. Image of the Day
  4. September 11, 2020

September 11, 2020: Brisingid Sea Star

This brisingid sea star, Freyella elegans, was imaged during the second dive of the Deep Connections 2019 expedition. Like many brisingid sea stars, it gets its scientific name from a Nordic deity -- in this case the Norse goddess Freya, wife of Odin and goddess of blessings, love, and fertility.

Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Deep Connections 2019. Download larger version (jpg, 518 KB).

This brisingid sea star, Freyella elegans, was imaged during the second dive of the Deep Connections 2019 expedition. Like many brisingid sea stars, it gets its scientific name from a Nordic deity – in this case the Norse goddess Freya, wife of Odin and goddess of blessings, love, and fertility.

In this image, the sea star’s arms are raised in a feeding posture, ready to catch prey swimming by using structures called “pedicellariae,” which you can learn more about in this mission log, “The Mysteries of Pedicellariae: Unknowns and Deadly Velcro.”