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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Digging it

A few years ago, I introduced the Long-armed Brittle Star (Amphiodia occidentalis).  


You can review the earlier post here, but I'm excited to share even better footage of this amazing brittle star in action.

Take a look!

This video is shown in actual time.  Note the extremely long, flexible arms of the brittle star; the impressive digging behavior (the sand grains appear to be "boiling"); and close-ups of the tube feet flicking upwards.  The tube feet are visible on the under sides of the arms (below the spines) — watch for them especially during the interval at 30-35 seconds.

[If you can't see the video clip below, click on the title of the post above to go directly to the web site.]



 
I hope you dig this video as much as we did!

1 comment:

wendy in port townsend said...

Your video is fantastic! Last summer I found and photographed a tiny pink and orange Daisy Brittle Star (Ophiopholis aculeata) on the Olympic Peninsula, and I think it was the most beautiful marine creature I've ever found! But it was just sitting in the tide pool, not moving like yours.