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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 8642109" data-attributes="member: 57383">Let's get on with the Description…Giant brittle stars are enormous ophiuroids related to sea stars and similar starfish. A brittle star has a disc-shaped body from which radiate long flexible arms it uses to catch food, walk and swim; most have five arms but a few species have six. Underneath the arms are sticky tube feet that can manipulate prey or cling to surfaces, such as cliff faces and cave roofs. The writhing motion of its arms gives ophiuroids another name: the serpent stars. Brittlestars, including the giant version, live on the sea floor and can be found in any climate. A few species tolerate brackish water and can live around river mouths. A typical giant brittle star has a body disc 4 to 5 feet across and arms 15 to 20 feet long. Bigger specimens are possible but rare; smaller giant brittle stars are commoner but rarely attack humanoids. Most kinds of brittle stars are either male or female, although some are both sexes at once or can alternate between male and female; they breed by floating millions of eggs away on the currents. The rare six-armed brittlestar can also reproduce by splitting into two (see the Walking Star described below for an example). Predatory Scavengers. A brittle star is primarily a scavenger, sweeping up scraps of food with its arms and conveying it to the five-jawed maw on its underside. A giant ophiuroid is much larger and more active than its normal-sized kin so requires far more food, so giant brittlestars roam around the sea floor and devour anything edible they come across. While it lacks the intelligence to deliberately stalk prey, a giant brittle star will enthusiastically pursue prey for a few minutes if it senses there's a good meal close by. Hungry Beachcombers. Air-breathing humanoids most often encounter giant brittle stars on the shoreline as they patrol the tideline for food washed up by the waves. A giant brittlestar can emerge from the water for up to an hour, so coastal specimens often supplement their diet of flotsam with careless or slow land creatures.</blockquote>

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