Some Stunning & Swimming Feather Star (Crinoid) Pics!

Image by Raymond Dy

Crinoids are always that weird member of the Echinodermata that seems to get out from under the "weird animals" category.. maybe because they can be so ethereal and frankly, just so damn photogenic!

So, this week: Some Feather Star Fascination! Some Charismatic Crinoids!  Here's some neat "best of" links about crinoids:

1. The Crinoid Life Cycle: How Feather Stars (comatulid crinoids) show their relationship to stalked crinoids!(here)
2. Urchins Attack! And Why Feather Stars Swim (here) 

More Swimming!

Image by tdpriest

Image by Jules Nene

Image by Erwin Poliakoff

Image by Raymond Dy

Not only was this one caught swimming-but there's a crab holdin' on! Yowee!

Image by Raymond Dy

and of course this video that is just about as soothing as anything you will watch an echinoderm do..

A crazy Splash of crinoid color!

Image by Sea Dog Diver

A colorful but more muted color crinoid combo!

Image by Rene Cazalens

This one seems to be "standing" on its arms. Unusual behavior!?

Image by Troy_Williams

A fantastic one called "Crinoid Corona"

Another one by Troy_Williams

This one is called "Honshu crinoid sunburst." Nice. 

and yet another by Troy_Williams

A nice shot showing crinoid and associated fish..

Image by Troy_Williams

Wow! An unusual shot by Simon Marsh

A nicely posed Antarctic Promachocrinus kerguelenensis (maybe)

Image by Icy_Sea_Slugs

Feather Star Color Bonanza!

A key lime colored crinoid by Frederique Jaffeux, South Ari Atoll in the Maldives

This week, some brightly, eye-jarring crinoids in mind-blowing COLOR! What are crinoids, aka feather stars?  They are echinoderms that hold their feathery arms up in the water and pick food out of the current as it flows through/past them!  Want to learn MORE about crinoids? Visit this awesome site by Dr. Chuck Messing!

Purple and white feeding fan of a feather star from the Maldives!

Image by Bil Stohler

Here-some brightly colored blue feeding structures called pinnules are seen on the arm...

Image by mimimoyer

A gorgeous crinoid from Okinawa withdrawn into itself

By Okinawa Nature Photography

A stunning green crinoid from Okinawa.

By Okinawa Nature Photography (Shawn Miller)

Stunning orange..

Image by Henry and Tersia. Borneo.

Black and White on a red sea fan.

Image by Randapex

Macro of Blue Oxycomanthus arms. fr. Bali.

Image by Arne Kuilman

Blue crinoid in repose fr. Indonesia.

Image by Courtney Platt

Black & White Crinoid from the Philippines

Image by Mona Dienhart & Chris Lebas

There is a fish in this picture! Can you spot it?

Image by Arne Kuilman

A crinoid in a lovecraftian pose!

Image by Eddy Wong

Seeing Crinoids through a "Liquid Lense"....

So..Washington DC has been having a string of annoyingly potent thunder/lightning storms over the last week. I had some good stuff in prep but I've only just gotten power back.

So, rather than try and half-ass a post I thought it would be better to treat you to some incredible photos of feather stars aka crinoids.  These are filter feeding echinoderms that use their long arms to pick food out of the water.

Crinoids have been around for a long while with fossils dating back to the Paleozoic. You may recognize fossil crinoids by their long stalk.. but most recent crinoids are unstalked and are basically a cup with a bunch of arms emerging from the top surface...

The one drawback to showing crinoids for me, is that a specimen is usually needed for identification-so many of these will have to go nameless for now..

Photos from the collection of a photographer named "Liquid Lense"...

These from Ko Haa in Thailand...

from Hin-Deang-Hin Muang in Thailand..




from Ko Haa
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