Hawaiian Brisingid Starfish Found Around Unexploded Munitions in Hawaii
by ChrisM - Echinoblog
To put it briefly, there’s a lot of unexploded bombs and munitions about 5 miles off the coast of the island of Oahu (and other locations throughout the Hawaiian Islands).
What are brisingids? Short answer: Sea Stars/Starfish that put their arms up into the water to capture food using a special kind of “starfish velcro”.
Go here to see a full write up about these weird deep-sea starfish!
(read more about: Echinoblog)
(photos: Chris Kelley, Hawaiian Undersea Research Labs)
December 13th, 2012
December 9th, 2012
Mosaic seastar (by Zenith_Images)
Plecaster decanus
This cool guy is one of the few sea stars known to have venomous qualities, this species should not be picked up and held in the bare hand for any length of time.
<3
December 3rd, 2012
heartmindawakening: Iconaster longimanus, family Goniasteridae, Indo-Pacific
(Source: heartbloodspirit)
November 2nd, 2012
A bright orange sea star (Pseudarchaster myobrachius) seen at the Northampton Seamounts (deep sea), a pair of forgotten peaks in the middle of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
October 21st, 2012
Warty Sea Star (Echinaster callosus)
Found singly or in groups on shallow sand and gravel areas as well as seagrass beds. Colour varies from place to place. Large sea star, with five conical, short, thick arms. They feed on molluscs, worms, detritus and sponges.
Mandati Jetti, Wangi-Wangi Island
Wakatobi
Photo by me (Lyra)
September 25th, 2012
Watch helplessly as this mussel is slowly & inexorably consumed by a sea star. Oh yeah, you’re watching from inside the shell.
This is so cool! You might not know this about sea stars, but certain species have the ability to invert a portion of their stomach and digest their prey from outside their body. If you’re an invertebrate, you can’t exactly crack open a shell the way a bird can.
This sea star pulls open the mussel shell slightly, inserts its stomach and releases a flood of digestive enzymes that dissolve its prey from the inside. You can watch that happen, sped up in the video above.
Sluuuuuuurp.
No word on whether the sea star also releases a white wine/butter sauce.
(via Deep Sea News)
August 28th, 2012
Purple Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) denuded an area in Monterey Bay (Northern California) of its kelp, over a 2 year period. Picture taken at 24 m depth. A Giant Spined Sea Star (Pisaster giganteus) is also pictured.
(photo: Lovell and Libby Langstroth)
I stand tall and wait for the day sea urchins rules the world with their spiny goodness.
July 29th, 2012
Crown of Thorns Sea Star (Acanthaster planci)
A. plancí has a very wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It occurs at tropical and subtropical latitudes from the Red Sea and the east African coast across the Pacific Ocean, across the Indian Ocean to the west coast of Central America. It occurs where there are coral reefs or hard coral communities in this region.
Photos by me (Lyra)
Ayer Island
July 17th, 2012
Luzon Sea Star (Echinaster luzonicus)
Typically have 6 tubular arms often with dark tips and scattering of dark pores. Highly variable colours and frequently regenerate new individuals from severed arms.
Ayer Island, Photo by me (Lyra)
July 9th, 2012
rhamphotheca: Indonesian Sea Star (photo: Tim Laman)
A Fromia indica with pattern that look like Indonesian (Javanese) traditional Batik.
