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Mediterranean feather star, Antedon Mediterranea – is becoming increasingly rare, and we try not to miss every opportunity to film and photograph it. On this dive we found it on a seabed that varies from 45 to 48 meters deep.
As you can see from the video, the body of the starfish is in a small hole, we practically recognized the characteristic arms outward probably in search of food. This starfish also called ophiura might seem slow and awkward in its movement, in reality it is quite fast, in fact in a few moments once it perceived the danger it completely retreated into its lair until it completely disappeared.
Mediterranean feather star Antedon Mediterranea Giglio di mare www.intotheblue.it
Mediterranean feather star Antedon Mediterranea Giglio di mare www.intotheblue.it
Antedon mediterranea – Mediterranean feather star Lamarck, 1816, is a crinoid of the Anthedonidae family, endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.
Description
It is a crinoid without a peduncle, which temporarily anchors itself to the substratum by means of numerous mobile claw-shaped cirri, articulated directly at the base of the calyx. About ten feathery-looking arms branch out from the calyx, forming a crown 20–25 cm in diameter, varying in color from white to red, from yellow to orange.
Mediterranean feather star Antedon Mediterranea Giglio di mare www.intotheblue.it
Biology
They spend most of their time anchored to the substrate, but if disturbed they are able to disengage and move. They are lucifugal organisms and therefore are found in shaded areas and during the night.
Antedon mediterranea feeds by filtering plankton and other small particles from sea water. The food is then wrapped in mucus and passed from the feet of the tube along the ambulacral grooves on the arms to the central mouth found on the upper side of the calyx. Antedon mediterranea can move to a limited extent by crawling on its cirrus clouds, “swimming”, alternately raising and lowering its ten arms five at a time, or “walking” on the seabed leaning on the tips of the arms and panting at the same time.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antedon_mediterranea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antedon_mediterranea
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