Astrophyton: taxon details and analytics

Domain
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Echinodermata
Class
Ophiuroidea
Order
Euryalida
Family
Gorgonocephalidae
Genus
Astrophyton
Species
Scientific Name
Astrophyton

Summary description from Wikipedia:

Astrophyton

Astrophyton muricatum, the giant basket star, is an echinoderm found in shallow parts of the tropical western Atlantic and throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the only species in the genus Astrophyton. During the day, it curls up into a tight ball shape to protect itself from predators. At night, it climbs to an elevated point to feed by extending its intricately branched feeding arms in a bowl-like shape in order to snare passing plankton and other organisms from the current.

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Images from inaturalist.org observations:

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Astrophyton
©Ben Hutchins, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
Astrophyton
©Ben Hutchins, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
Astrophyton
©Tsu Soo Tan, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
Astrophyton
©Tsu Soo Tan, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)