Antedon mediterranea

Mediterranean feather-star

   Antedon mediterranea is a feather-star of up to 20 cm in diameter. It has 10 feathery branched arms and between 25 to 30 cirri. Its color is variable: white, yellow, brown or red. It is attached temporarily to other invertebrates (sponges, sea-fans) or to hard substrata by means of its cirri, generally in current-swept areas where it can catch plankton with its extended arms.
It is present from surface to 80 m deep in the Mediterranean Sea.

Classification

 (source : European Register of Marine Species)

• Echinodermata [Phylum]
• Crinozoa [Subphylum]
• Crinoidea [Class]
• Articulata [Subclass]
• Millericrinida [Order]
• Comatulidina [Suborder]
• Antedonacea [Superfamily]
• Antedonidae [Family]
• Antedon mediterranea (de Lamarck, 1816)

Page glossary

Cirri : Articulated prehensive extensions arising from the lower surface of the central disc used to cling on hard substrata.

Authors

Top photograph :
© Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with author's kind permission : 
Antedon mediterranea, Illes Medes, Costa Brava, East of Spain. Depth 18 meters.
Text :  Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005-2010.
Translation :  Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2007-2010.

How to cite this page in publications

Bay-Nouailhat A., September 2005, Description of Antedon mediterranea, Available on line at http://www.european-marine-life.org/30/antedon-mediterranea.php, consulted on 09 February 2010.
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