Basket star
Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae
- Scientific name
- Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae
- Group
- Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
- Rarity
- Rare
- Where to see it
- Cold / polar waters
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Not evaluated
Did you know?
The basket star unfurls its arms into hundreds of branching tips at night to form a living net that traps plankton drifting in the current, then curls back into a tight ball by day.
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.