Here is one of the most alien looking species you can find on the rocky shore, and a real treasure – Feather Stars.
Your usually only lucky enough to see these beauties at very low tides or subtidally. I was lucky enough to see this the first time I went rockpooling on the beach between Bracelet Bay and Mumbles Pier in Swansea in my first year of uni (before I knew how lucky it was to have such a low tide at that location!). I was mesmorised by its awesome arms (with pinnules – the ‘offshoots’ of the arms) waving about catching the detrius and plantkon floating past. This will then get passed down to the mouth of the organsism in the centre of its body for a lovely meal.
This particular individual of this species (lets call him fred shall we?), despite the light camera quiality, was a lovely light red but the colours of this species can vary anything from purple, to red, to orange through to light brown. What is also amazing is that these species are not actually sessile, and only attach temporarily. They can then dettach and move there little arms and flap about to swim and find a better place. They can actually move pretty fast, especially if they crawl – check out this other video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZcomBnNKXg I was gobsmacked when I first saw how fast they can move!
Well I kept this weeks post short and sweet! Hope you know a bit more about these feathery friends, and if you like the illustration dont forget to check out my shop and get yourself a copy of the print.
Happy Rockpooling,
MarineMumbles xxx