Antedon bifida (Pennant, 1777)

Description

Antedon bifida is a feather-star of 10 to 15 cm (rarely 20) in diameter. The central disc, not clearly visible at first sight, is surrounded by 10 feathery arms reaching up to 10 cm long. Its color varies from crimson to red, yellow or whitish often with stripess, red and white for example, or mottlings. Antedon bifida is attached temporarily to rocks, seaweeds or sea-fans by means of 20 to 30 short articulated cirri arising from the lower face of the central disc. It feeds on plankton captured by means of its extended feathery arms. It can also swim by alternate undulations of its arms to escape predators or find a better place to feed.

Distribution

Antedon bifida is present from surface to depths up to 200 m in the Atlantic Ocean from the British coast down to the Portuguese coasts, in the English Channel and the North Sea.

Classification

Source : World Register of Marine Species

Biota (Superdomain)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Echinodermata (Phylum)
Crinozoa (Subphylum)
Crinoidea (Class)
Articulata (Subclass)
Comatulida (Order)
Antedonoidea (Superfamily)
Antedonidae (Family)
Antedoninae (Subfamily)
Antedon (Genus)
Antedon bifida (Species)

Page glossary

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

Authors

Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2007 - 2020.

Photos : © Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography

How to cite this page

Bay-Nouailhat A., September 2007, Description of Antedon bifida, [On line] http://european-marine-life.org/30/antedon-bifida.php, consulted on 2020 November 23.