Brittle stars or ophiuroids
#gili #giliislands #lombok #diving #scuba #gilitrawangan #pets #ocean #stars #ophiuroids #echinoderms #sealife #marinelife #indonesia

Does anyone have a good reference for how #echinoderms resurface and/or recognize the #seafloor in their #habitat? It's something I've observed, but I can't seem to find any reference describing or quantifying it.
(I've looked at the bioturbation literature; it's not what I'm looking for)

Zoology hot take:

Brittle stars are just starfish (sea stars) which have made their way through the Amigara Fault.

https://mediachomp.com/the-enigma-of-amigara-fault-manga/

Fossil shows #starfish relative engaged in clonal fragmentation 150 million years ago https://phys.org/news/2024-05-fossil-germany-starfish-engaged-clonal.html

#Fossil evidence for the ancient link between clonal fragmentation, six-fold symmetry and an epizoic lifestyle in asterozoan #echinoderms https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.2832

"many species of #BrittleStars are capable of reproducing by splitting off parts of their body, both of which then regenerate, resulting in two distinct clonal creatures, a process known as clonal fragmentation"

Holy Glowing #DeepSea Cucumbers! https://deepseanews.com/2024/01/holy-glowing-sea-cucumbers/

Glowing sea cucumbers: Bioluminescence in the Holothuroidea https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780323953771000035

"In this #luminescent tapestry, #SeaCucumbers emerge as unexpected stars. While we might not associate these #echinoderms with #bioluminescence, they contribute significantly to the underwater light show... Venture to the depths of one kilometer, and you’ll find that luminous sea cucumbers constitute an astonishing 99% of all sea cucumbers."

Arms of the Abyss https://deepseanews.com/2024/01/arms-of-the-abyss/

"#BasketStars, so named for the dizzying and multi-branching nature of their convoluted arms, often perch atop #coral or rocky formations. From this high mount, the #BasketStar can extends its arms in faster moving waters away from the seafloor to ensnare drifting #zooplankton for food. Its arms, equipped with tiny hooks and sticky mucus, capture prey that gets passed to its central mouth."

Fortifying our understanding of regeneration: Ferdinand Marlétaz, Elise Parey & collaborators use the brittle star genome to reveal conserved gene expression dynamics across regenerating model systems.

New preLights post by Isabella Cisneros

#preLight https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/the-brittle-star-genome-illuminates-the-genetic-basis-of-animal-appendage-regeneration/

Crinoids are fascinating.

They are marine animals that look a bit like exotic plants. We have some lovely ones today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoid

Fossil from an animal that lived more than 250 million years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event#/media/File:Agaricocrinus_americanus_Carboniferous_Indiana.jpg

Image by Alexander Vasenin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24925765

Bodiless Heads Crawling Around The Ocean

Starfish are brainless, bloodless, digest their food externally, and regenerate body parts.

Starfish and other echinoderms lack the architecture for an actual body.

They are essentially just mobile heads that sprouted the ability to crawl.

https://www.sciencealert.com/starfish-are-basically-bodiless-heads-crawling-around-the-ocean-scientists-say

#MarineBiology
#echinoderms
#starfish

Starfish Are Basically Bodiless Heads Crawling Around The Ocean, Scientists Say
According to a new analysis of their gene expression, starfish and other echinoderms lack the architecture for an actual body.
They are essentially just mobile heads that sprouted the ability to crawl, say a team led by biologists Laurent Formery and Chris Lowe of Stanford University.
https://www.sciencealert.com/starfish-are-basically-bodiless-heads-crawling-around-the-ocean-scientists-say #starfish #echinoderms #heads #bodyplan #deuterostome #superphylum

Are the zoologists alright?

An often debated echinoderm topic. Where would a starfish wear pants?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxfTkjkgZt0

#nature #echinoderms #marinebiology
#zoology

Long presumed to have no heads at all, #starfish may be nothing but https://phys.org/news/2023-11-presumed-starfish.html

Molecular evidence of anteroposterior patterning in adult #echinoderms https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06669-2

"It's as if the #SeaStar is completely missing a trunk, and is best described as just a head crawling along the seafloor"

Advanced imaging reveals the last bite of a 465-million-year-old trilobite https://phys.org/news/2023-09-advanced-imaging-reveals-million-year-old-trilobite.html

Uniquely preserved gut contents illuminate #trilobite #palaeophysiology https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06567-7

"The digestive tract of the trilobite #Bohemolichas incola was tightly packed with #calcareous #shells and their fragments that belonged to marine #invertebrates such as #ostracods, #bivalves and #echinoderms, some of them identifiable to the species level."

Hiya Mastodon,

Re- #Introduction time! I'm Ash, a stop motion animator of wildlife and paleontologist.

In the last year I moved from Australia to France and to Mastodon from my ex Twitter handle @aela_wild.

With the move I renamed my business to StudioWild. So far it's a better fit :)

Now that I'm set up, I post about natural history and share my mixed media art. I'm looking forward to getting to know my new landscape and all the weird wild animals and places in between.

If you're inclined, my animations live on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@studio_wild

And this is a sea cucumber, too. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2023/08/and-another-sea-cucumber.html
Creeping pedal sea cucumber.
#VanIsle #MarineInvertebrates #Echinoderms #IntertidalInvertbrates

A pyramid-shaped #SeaUrchin

Seascape #Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping

#NOAA #Okeanos is LIVE NOW: https://www.youtube.com/live/YgEl_fFt--Y?si=kKtDFXqJ2EUxOSOy

#SeaUrchin & #BrittleStar

Seascape #Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping

#NOAA #Okeanos is LIVE NOW: https://www.youtube.com/live/YgEl_fFt--Y?si=kKtDFXqJ2EUxOSOy

Fascinating #echinoderms https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/04/science/antarctica-starfish-brooding.html?unlocked_article_code=0YVdaKFuumZngDl2KCJ2QANUyNM6rdDvUwaBIFVw4IGLiX-BZzGFekSdhkg_F4BOUhw3noa4_nwBax3nLzt1p8NUc7B72ArqFPcOALYV4zjnLBQBCANfZkj68WcdZo8syo2BW-4JXqm6S9kB_2A41F-k7JScYgP2ZlTdEkIyVmqR8_YJCFFKCj9Tq_qnZHlEQeeHPLcdiKm0-zwh4PRFnK4kam82Xusd3VwZZO-Z47qNSmU-PcszZ7uKwyW3PIvku3K4asBdm8H-f-NdOMrwHMa7UTsVGwl5IRvAqX2dKnMDYoTzAjjv6a2kLbtrC2ADbBCbTiBUz_o_ZX_oGVJyikZ1bXUjrg&smid=url-share

We are fascinated by #echinoderms... and by their important and undersung role in Indian history, from the 16th century giant brittle star invasion of the Vijayanagara Empire to the mind-controlling holothuroids of the Thuggee cult

https://www.blaft.com/products/killer-echinoderms-in-indian-history-ebook

A couple of weeks ago I posted my most recent find - a largish #Miocene echinoid from the River Murray. For #FossilFriday I'm posting the same specimen now that the preparation is complete.
#echinoderms #RiverMurray