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April 2, 2021: Crinoid

This beautiful purple crinoid was imaged during the first dive of the Deepwater Wonders of Wake: Exploring the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument expedition attached to a sponge stalk.

Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Deepwater Wonders of Wake. Download larger version (jpg, 777 KB).

This beautiful purple crinoid was imaged during the first dive of the Deepwater Wonders of Wake: Exploring the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument expedition attached to a sponge stalk. Using what are called prehensile cirri, the crinoid was able to wrap its cirri, or little “feet,” around the stalk of the sponge to hold on. Not all crinoids are able to do this.