BRITTLE STARS
OPHIODERMATIDAE
Bluntspined Brittle Star
Ophiocoma echinata
Size
Arm length to 15cm

Description
:
Long
heavy, blunt arm spines. Arms long and slender. Disc is brown, grey or tan with small granules. May have a white "petal" pattern on disc. Legs often with vague banding.

Ecology
The species lives under rocks, old coral heads and in recesses. It can be found on reefs and reef flats. Sometimes in grassy areas.
Depth ranges from 3 to 75ft (1-25m). Feeds on detritus and suspended matter, by holding some of its arms vertically in the passing water current to filter food particles, catching them with the spines and passing them along feeding channels to the mouth.

Life Cycle
Reproduction takes place over a prolonged breeding season with gametes being shed directly into the sea without any synchronisation.
    Ecological Descriptors
Habitat Size (cm) Diet Behaviour Sex 
Co, R, S Arms 15 Det, Noct I F
Bluntspined Brittle Star
395
396
Bluntspined Brittle Star