Noble hair star
| Noble hair star | ||||||||||||
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Noble hair star ( Comaster nobilis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Comaster nobilis | ||||||||||||
| ( Carpenter , 1884) |
The noble hair star ( Comaster nobilis ), also known as the cirrus star , is a large representative of the hair star (Comatulida) that occurs from the Maldives and Sri Lanka to the tropical, western Pacific.
features
The noble hair star reaches a diameter of 35 centimeters and is very variable in color. Most are yellow or blackish in color. The arms of light specimens can also be black, their feathers spotted yellow, white, yellow-white or black-white. Their arms are forked several times, so that adult specimens have 80 to 200 arms. Schlegel's hair star ( Comaster schlegeli ), which is very similar, has only 80 to 100 arms and 40 to 60 long cirrus. Since the cirrus star lacks the cirrus that other hair stars use to clamp on, they hold on to the lower, slightly shorter tentacles while the others are used to filter plankton from the water. The mouth is offset to the side of the body, while the anus is in the center of the body disc.
Way of life
Noble hair stars are nocturnal and sit on hard substrates exposed to currents, on corals, gorgonians or stones to catch food. During the day they seek sheltered places and roll themselves up in a ball.
literature
- Schumacher / Hinterkircher: Lower sea animals , BLV, ISBN 3-405-14854-5
- Erhardt / Moosleitner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 3 , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1997, ISBN 3-88244-103-8
Web links
- Messing, C. (2009). Comaster nobilis (Carpenter, 1884). In: Messing, C. World List of the Crinoidea. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species.Accessed July 8, 2010