Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Feather Stars are members of the Order Comatulida, and Sea Lilies members of the Order Isocrinida, and form the Class Crinoidea. There are about 400 species of feather stars, and like basket stars, they are extremely attractive.
Both sea lilies and feather stars are attached by a stem to the seabed floor, however, feather stars break free for their adult life and become capable of swimming to where the food supply suits them. The stalked Sea Lilies, which are very rare, are confined to deeper waters and rarely ever seen in the trade, therefore they are not discussed here.
These creatures lack eyes and can contain between 10 to 200 arms attached to a central disk called the calyx. Each arm can also have lateral branches, hence their common name. Even though they have tube feet, they do not use them for locomotion. Instead, they use claw-like appendages called "cirri" for grasping the substrate. They are capable of moving through the water column when threatened or dissatisfied with their location by alternating the movement of their arms.
They are suspension feeders and uncoil/coil their arms to gather only extremely fine planktonic food. They also require very specific water currents in the course of gathering food. Without specific attention to their needs, they slowly digest themselves and disintegrate. Usually active at night, these Crinoids are better left in the ocean, as they are quite difficult to maintain in aquaria.
