I encountered this basket star (Astroboa nudi) on a night dive, about half an hour after sunset. During the day these echinoderms - the largest of the brittle stars - are seldom seen as they hide in reef crevices. The animal was just emerging from its daytime shelter, in a typical tangle of its many repeatedly branching and highly flexible arms. It would later climb to the top of a coral outcrop and extend its arms into the current - covering a substantial area of over a metre across - in order to catch small planktonic animals, which would then be passed to the central mouth. Egyptian Red Sea

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Size: 3502px × 2249px
Location: Near Marsa Alam, Egypt
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, astroboa, basket, brittle, coral, creation, dive, diving, echinoderm, egypt, feeder, largest, natural, night, nocturnal, nudi, plankton, red, reef, scuba, sea, selection, star, trd5143, underwater