Name that starfish
September 29, 2015 2:05 PM   Subscribe

I went snorkeling near Cancun a few years ago. The instructor brought a starfish to the surface and let me hold it for a moment, and it was a really cool experience. Since then I've been trying to identify its species, but haven't had any luck.

I believe the creature in question was not a traditional starfish, but more like a brittle star.
It had long, thin, thorny arms. They weren't as thin as this, and the thorns were more blunt and less needle-like than this. It was also a uniform wooden brown color, and I remember thinking that its arms reminded me of rose stems.

Any ideas?
posted by possumbrie to Science & Nature (3 answers total)
 
possibly a crown of thorns starfish? my experience has been that good dive masters are loathe to pluck things unless they are invasive and need to be gotten rid of anyway.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:17 PM on September 29, 2015


Indignant starfish?

From your description it sounds as if it might have been a Bradley's Sea Star.
posted by essexjan at 3:25 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Was it a red thorny star?
posted by blueberrypuffin at 7:51 AM on September 30, 2015


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