Quick Take
- This creature looks more like a tangle of roots than an animal, and yet it's a closer relative to something familiar than you'd ever guess. Discover its bizarre form →
- It never chases its food, and its passive hunting method is far stranger than simply waiting around. See its hunting method →
- Each of its arms operates independently, and that ability saves its life in ways you wouldn't expect. Explore arm independence →
- Spotting one in the wild is almost impossible, and the reason has everything to do with where it chooses to hide. Find out where it hides →
The ocean is full of strange and mysterious-looking creatures. One example is the basket star, which gets its name from its unusual shape and tangled, branching arms. This Instagram post by @oneexplain shows the unique basket star and some interesting facts about it.
Basket stars can grow thousands of small branches all stemming from five main arms.
©Filofede/Shutterstock.com
About the Basket Star
The basket star is one of the most fascinating marine animals out there. At times, they look more like a tangle of roots and vines rather than an animal. However, these marine invertebrates are a type of brittle star. Unlike true sea stars, their organs are concentrated in a central dish, and their long arms have hundreds or thousands of tiny tips. Basket stars occur in oceans globally in rocky and coral reefs. They are relatively rare to see as they inhabit a wide range of depths, from around 30 feet to as deep as 6,100 feet below the surface, though they are most commonly found between roughly 50 and 500 feet. Their most defining feature is their arms. Like other starfish, basket stars begin with five main arms. However, these limbs repeatedly branch off into smaller and smaller branches, creating the tangled structure seen in the video above. While they may look a bit scary, basket stars are harmless to people. They do not have stingers, and at most, their arms may feel a bit rough.
The arms of basket stars are used to capture prey. Tiny hooks and spines on their arms trap zooplankton, shrimp, krill, jellyfish larvae, or other microscopic organisms. To hunt, they climb onto an elevated spot like a coral or rock and face into the ocean’s current. They then unfurl their arms and wait for food to drift into the branches. They are the perfect example of a passive and opportunistic hunter who waits for their food to come to them. When hunting, they can be fascinating to watch. As seen in the video above, basket stars are able to move each arm independently to maximize food capture. This can create some amazing visuals. With large species reaching up to four feet in diameter when their arms are fully extended, they are mesmerizing creatures. Additionally, like many other starfish species, they can regrow lost limbs. If a predator damages an arm, it will grow back over time.
