Tropiometra afra
Long Pinnule Feather Star
©Lyle Vail and Anne Hoggett: Tropiometra afra is always black and has fine, long, evenly-spaced pinnules arranged in a single plane
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Echinodermata
Class
Crinoidea
Order
Comatulida
Family
Tropiometridae
Genus
Tropiometra
Species
Tropiometra afra
Colours
Distinguishing features
A large crinoid with only ten arms. The arms are distinctive: brachials are slender and the pinnules are fine, long, relatively stiff, evenly spaced, and held in a single plane. Colour is always black. The central part of the animal is almost always hidden. This is the only species in the family Tropiometridae found in Australia.
Size
- Up to 50 cm (Length of specimen) - applies to Diameter up to 50 cm
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Central body usually concealed within a crevice with about 200 mm of the arms protruding, sometimes hanging under ledges.
Found at low density in most reef areas around the Lizard Island Group.
Web resources
References
- Clark, A.M. and F.W.E. Rowe (1971). Monograph of shallow-water Indo-west Pacific echinoderms British Museum (Natural History), London.
- Meyer, D.L. (1979). Length and spacing of the tube feet in crinoids (Echinodermata) and their role in suspension-feeding, Marine Biology, 51: 361-369. LIRS catalog number 29.