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mesh size is small, so it probably captures a wide variety of prey. The part of the arms near their base overlap one another and may serve to create a degree of turbulence which may assist the outer parts of the arms in their food capture or bring further food particles within reach. When feeding, it orientates itself towards the current in order to maximise its food collection ability. When it touches a food particle, the smallest branches close around it to form a ball which is then moved to the mouth. Even small juvenile fishes, shrimps and similar-sized organisms can be captured by these means. Typical perches are on the top of large corals or the top of
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288:, and it uses the lower parts of the arms to hold itself in place. During the day it retreats down to the base of the coral or gorgonian, or hides in a crevice in the structure during the day. If a light is shone on it while it is feeding at night, it curls itself up, taking several minutes to become a fist-sized structure.
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The species is nocturnal and spends the day in a hiding place. It only feeds when the water conditions are optimal. When the current is too strong it keeps its arms folded up but at moderate current speed it climbs to an elevated position and spreads its arms wide. The arms are much branched and the
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The giant basket star is a very large echinoderm that can reach a diameter of nearly a metre when its arms are fully extended. It has a central disc and eight slender, flexible arms that repeatedly divide to form a fine-meshed net-like structure. The colour is generally brown or black.
237:. During the day, it curls up into a tight ball shape to protect itself from predators. At night, it climbs to an elevated point to feed by extending its intricately branched feeding arms in a bowl-like shape in order to snare passing
262:
in North
Carolina to the coast of Brazil at about 20°S. It is found at depths down to about 30 m (98 ft). Although it is usually found on coral reefs, it also occurs on the top of boulders or in
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often lives in association with the giant basket star, and larger individuals are usually coloured to match the colour of the basket star.
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This basket star is found in warmer regions of the western
Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Its range extends from
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Astrophyton hiding during the day in the branches of a gorgonian at
Atlantis dive site in Bonaire
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found in shallow parts of the tropical western
Atlantic and throughout the
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Sabine Stöhr & Hans
Hansson (2012). Stöhr S, O'Hara T (eds.).
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372:Marine Invertebrates and Plants of the Living Reef
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241:and other organisms from the current.
231:. It is the only species in the genus
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893:Taxa named by James Henry Fleming
376:. T.F.H. Publications. pp.
341:World Register of Marine Species
51:
1:
437:. CRC Press. pp. 229–.
407:. CRC Press. pp. 299–.
888:Monotypic echinoderm genera
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461:Odd looking marine animals
401:Lawrence, John M. (1982).
368:Colin, Patrick L. (1978).
337:World Ophiuroidea database
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48:Scientific classification
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37:
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254:Distribution and habitat
19:Not to be confused with
431:Michel Jangoux (1990).
898:Taxa described in 1816
313:Encyclopedia of Life:
280:
16:Genus of brittle stars
689:Astrophyton_muricatum
660:Astrophyton muricatum
630:Paleobiology Database
469:on Sealife Collection
315:Astrophyton muricatum
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212:Astrophyton muricatum
174:Astrophyton muricatum
294:Periclimenes perryae
434:Echinoderm Research
883:Ophiuroidea genera
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878:Gorgonocephalidae
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864:
814:Open Tree of Life
479:Taxon identifiers
444:978-90-6191-141-8
414:978-90-6191-228-6
387:978-0-86622-875-6
217:giant basket star
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199:Euryale muricatum
156:A. muricatum
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125:Gorgonocephalinae
115:Gorgonocephalidae
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346:February 25,
344:. Retrieved
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260:Cape Lookout
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827:SeaLifeBase
749:iNaturalist
591:iNaturalist
531:Astrophyton
517:Astrophyton
511:Wikispecies
487:Astrophyton
467:Astrophyton
404:Echinoderms
331:Astrophyton
291:The shrimp
245:Description
234:Astrophyton
136:Astrophyton
121:Subfamily:
95:Ophiuroidea
32:Astrophyton
21:Astrophytum
872:Categories
465:Photos of
301:References
286:gorgonians
221:echinoderm
271:Behaviour
150:Species:
71:Kingdom:
65:Eukaryota
767:11429051
675:Q3545270
669:Wikidata
502:Q2868606
496:Wikidata
239:plankton
227:and the
219:, is an
191:Synonyms
111:Family:
81:Phylum:
75:Animalia
61:Domain:
741:5188085
583:2278461
378:410–411
184:, 1816)
182:Lamarck
142:Fleming
131:Genus:
101:Order:
91:Class:
855:243214
842:593622
839:uBio:
819:824661
806:243214
793:941138
780:157366
754:128117
728:598388
702:218070
648:123583
622:545849
609:157365
596:128120
544:218065
441:
411:
384:
215:, the
144:, 1828
850:WoRMS
832:49584
762:IRMNG
643:WoRMS
635:81892
570:57791
557:7NPYS
801:OBIS
788:NCBI
775:ITIS
736:GBIF
715:J4ZX
697:BOLD
617:NCBI
604:ITIS
578:GBIF
539:BOLD
439:ISBN
409:ISBN
382:ISBN
348:2012
723:EoL
710:CoL
684:ADW
565:EoL
552:CoL
526:ADW
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23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
