Giant feather star
Oxycomanthus bennetti
- Scientific name
- Oxycomanthus bennetti
- Group
- Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
- Rarity
- Common
- Where to see it
- Indo-Pacific & Red Sea
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Not evaluated
Did you know?
The giant feather star spreads a crown of more than 200 feathery arms to catch plankton drifting by in the current. Unlike most echinoderms, it can actually swim, using wave-like movements of its arms.
What defines this group — Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
Starfish, urchins and sea cucumbers: a five-fold symmetry found nowhere else in the animal kingdom.
- The body is arranged in fives around a centre: no head, no front, no back.
- They move on hundreds of tube feet driven by water under pressure.
- Many regrow a lost arm; some starfish can rebuild themselves from a single one.