Oil Slick Leap dive site.
Bari Reef dive site, evening/night.
Some holdfasts had tons of brittle stars.
I'm guessing these are probably Ophiothrix spiculata, mostly based on the length of the arm spines and just looking at other pics I found. Can anyone confirm? I'm guess each arm was no more than 5 mm in diameter. Observed on a kelp holdfast at a depth of about 40 ft, in Whaler's Cove, Pt Lobos State Reserve, Carmel, CA.
Ophiuroids are members of the class Ophiuroidea, which includes brittle stars and basket stars. Both brittle and basket stars are somewhat similar to sea stars in that they have multiple arms attached to a central disk. It is known about 1900 species. They do not have breathing and excretive systems and they can regenerate lost arms.
