April 29, 2021: Brisingid Sea Star
Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Exploring Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts 2014. Download larger version (jpg, 1.5 MB).
Despite their unusual appearance, brisingids are proper sea stars — but they have a very unusual life mode and body form. Brisingids use their multiple arms (often 6 to 20 total) which are covered with spines to capture tiny prey, often tiny crustaceans, and other food as it is carried by water currents.
Food is captured by tiny structures known as pedicellariae. These are wrench-shaped claws which cover the spines and act as a kind of “velcro” to grab onto food. Once caught, food is then moved down to the mouth via the sea star’s tube feet. There are many species of brisingids in the deep ocean, but only a few are recognizable from pictures.
From: Let's Meet the Deep-sea Stars of the North Atlantic Canyons.