Very long-armed brittle star (Ophipthrix longipeda) on the Shores of Singapore

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Phylum Echinodermata > Class Stellaroida > Subclass Ophiuroidea

Very long-armed brittle star
Ophiothrix longipeda
Family Ophiotrichidae
updated Aug 10

Where seen? This brittle star indeed has very long flat arms! It is commonly encountered among coral rubble and under stones at night on many of our shores. Often all that can be seen of is a small part of its very long arms, while the central disk remains safely hidden in a crevice. The arms retract rapidly when disturbed.

Ocassionally one might be seen outside its hiding place. Sometimes upside down in a tangle of its own arms. It's still not certain what this behaviour is about. But as soon as light falls on one, it will rapidly disappear into its hiding place.

Features: Disk diameter about 1-2cm, arms about 20-30cm long and about 2cm broad. Disk thick and pentagonal. The very long arms are flat, generally of uniform width throughout, with long flat spines held flattened along the sides. The arms sometimes have a faint banded pattern. Generally beige or bluish.

What does it eat? It feeds on suspended particles and to some extent, also scavenges on dead animals.

Sometimes confused with the Blue lined brittle star (Ophiothrix lineocaerulea) which also has very long arms. But it has blue lines along the arms and its spines are more cylindrical.