Class+Ophiuroidea+(Brittle+Stars)



- Large group consisting of over 2000 species

- Most diverse class of the Echinoderms

- Referred to as serpent stars, brittle stars, or basket stars due to their long, slender, fragile arms

- Arms are very flexible and are set off sharply from the body disk

- Body disk is circular, pentagonal, or slightly star-shaped

- Each arm contains a radial canal, but no body organs

- Feed on detritus and small organisms

- Mouth leads to large saclike stomach that fills most of body cavity

- No intestine or anus, solid waste leaves through the mouth

- Stomach is folded into ten pouches, between which ten respiratory sacs lie

- Cells lining sacs have flagella, which help establish a current of water moving in and out

[] [|http://www.starfish.ch/reef/echinoderms.html] [|http://ophiuroids.myspecies.info/sites/ophiuroids.myspecies.info/files/u2/Euryaleaspera.jpg] [|http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/invertzoo/images/brittlestar.jpg]
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