The giant basket star

Basket star

Basket stars are a group of brittle stars. They are treated as a suborder Euryalina or order Euryalida. Many of them have characteristic many-branched arms. They generally live in deep sea habitats.The life span in the wild is up to 35 years. They weigh around 11 lbs, or 5 kg...

 (Astrophyton muricatum) is an echinoderm

Echinoderm

Echinoderms are a phylum of marine animals. Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone....

 found throughout the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

 and the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

.

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 on plankton by extending its intricately-branched feeding arms in a bowl-like shape, to snare passing plankton and other organisms from the current.

Astrophyton are in no way related to Astrophytum

Astrophytum

Astrophytum is a genus of six species of cacti. These species are sometimes referred to as living rocks, though the term is also used for other genera, particularly Lithops . The generic name is derived from the Greek words άστρον , meaning "star," and φυτόν , meaning "plant."-Species:* Astrophytum...

, which are a genus of cacti.

List of species

ITIS

Integrated Taxonomic Information System

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System is a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagency group within the U.S...

:

• Astrophyton cacaoticum Lyman, 1874
• Astrophyton muricatum (Lamarck, 1816) Commonly known as the Basket Star