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:

  1. 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.

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