Bennett's Feather Star
Bennett's feather star (Oxycomanthus bennetti) is a bright, many-armed crinoid of Indo-Pacific reefs, which climbs to exposed perches at night and spreads its feathery arms to feed.
Bennett's feather star (Oxycomanthus bennetti) is a bright, many-armed crinoid of Indo-Pacific reefs, which climbs to exposed perches at night and spreads its feathery arms to feed.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Bennett's Feather Star in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Deuterostomia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Net of Arms
The animal has dozens of arms covered with fine pinnules, held up to catch plankton in the current. Food is passed along grooves to the central mouth. By day it hides in crevices.
Free-Living Crinoids
Feather stars cling to rock with claw-like cirri, but can let go and swim by waving their arms. See Rosy Feather Star.
Reef Residents
Small shrimps, crabs and fishes often live among the arms, camouflaged to match their host.
Bennett's Feather Star at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Oxycomanthus bennetti |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Echinodermata |
| Class | Crinoidea |
| Order | Comatulida |
| Family | Comatulidae |
| Field Guide group | Deuterostomia: Echinodermata (Sea Stars & Allies) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Dense crown of dozens of feathery yellow-green arms raised into the current from a reef perch; clings with claw-like cirri and can crawl away. |
| Class | Crinoidea |
| Habitat | Indo-Pacific reefs |