top of page
Dwarf Brittle Star, Brooding Snake Star
Echinoderm
Dwarf Brittle Star, Brooding Snake Star
Amphipholis squamata (Dell Chiaje, 1828)
WoRMS AphialID
125064
Sample IDs
HMSC174-00027 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCEC001-23; HMSC174-00041 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCEC002-23; HMSC174_03319 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCEC060-25; HMSC174_03320 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCEC061-25
Collected
Minas Basin NS, the Wolves NB, ponar grab collections of pebbles and cobbles and scallop drag on cobble and scallop shells, 5-35 m depth.
Distinguishing Features
• Aboral: covered with small scales, the radial shields are plate like and touch one another.
• Oral: 2 pairs of oral papillae, and the oral shields are slightly wider than long.
• Arms: fairly short, and with 3-4 short erect spines per joint.
• Size: disc to 5 mm diameter and arm radius to 37 mm.
Habitat
Common under stones, among algae in tidepools, and in shelly substratebottoms, 0-640 m depth.
Geographic Range
Cosmopolitan distribution from the Arctic to Florida and in Northern Europe in the Atlantic, from Alaska to South California and New Zealand in the Pacific and in the Indo-Pacific region.
Fun Fact
This brittlestar is bioluminescent, glowing a greenish colour in the dark. It uses this ability to avoid predation by breaking off an arm when attacked. The arm acts as a decoy, continuing to wriggle and glow as the brittlestar makes its escape.
Barcode Distribution
Matching Saint Andrews BIN and Norway BIN.
bottom of page