Also known asFeather star, Sea lily relativeDescriptionA dark olive-green feather star (crinoid) climbs across the face of a large purple vase sponge, its feathery pinnulate arms curling and extending outward to filter plankton from the current. The sponge is a pink-purple, finely porous, fan-shaped sponge, typical of Caribbean reefs. The surrounding reef is covered in encrusting sponges, algae and coralline growth.HabitatTropical reef walls and slopes, commonly 5-40 m; the vase sponge appearance is consistent with the Caribbean, where feather stars often perch on sponges and gorgonians to reach flowing water.NotesImage is vivid with saturated colors and vignetting. Feather stars are hard to identify to species from arm shape and color alone, so no species name is given. The purple sponge resembles a Caribbean vase sponge (possibly Niphates digitalis or similar), but this is not certain.Creatures detected3 in frame- feather star (crinoid)invertebrate
- purple vase spongeinvertebrate
- orange encrusting spongeinvertebrate
