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brittle
stars text index
| photo index
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| Phylum Echinodermata > Class Stellaroida > Subclass Ophiuroidea |
| Tiny
in-a-sponge brittle stars Ophiactis savignyi* Family Ophioactidae updated Aug 10 Where seen? These tiny brittle stars are commonly seen in living Chocolate sponges (Spheciospongia cf. vagabunda) on many of our shores. Features: Whole animal 1-2cm. Arms banded with short spines lying flat arong the arms. Central disk rarely seen outside its hiding place. Sometimes, larger brittle stars with white arms are also seen in the same sponge. A single sponge may be home to lots of brittle stars, each hole in the sponge sheltering one tiny brittle star. With their arms waving out, the brittle stars give the submerged sponge a 'furry' look. |
 Pulau Sekudu, Jul 05 |
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Tiny in-a-sponge brittle stars on Singapore shores
 Sentosa, Sep 08 |
 Outside the sponge? |
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 Pulau Sekudu, Jun 05 |
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 Pulau Sekudu, Aug 05 |
 Chek Jawa, Jun 06 |
 Larger white brittle stars among the tiny banded ones. Pulau Sekudu, Jul 04 |
 Chek Jawa, Jun 05 |
 Pulau Semakau, Sep 05 |
 Pulau Sekudu, Jun 05 |
video clip and more photos of tiny-in-a-sponge brittle stars on Singapore shores
northern shores
southern shores part 1 | part 2 | part 3
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display
References
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