''Comaster nobilis'', the noble/yellow feather star, is a

crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...

in the family

Comatulidae Comatulidae is a family of comatulid crinoids. Since 2015, it replaces the family Comasteridae. Description and characteristics This family is of recent restoration, and still has no consensual description. However the description of the fam ...

. It was previously classified as ''Comanthina nobilis'' but further research showed that it was better placed in the genus ''

Comaster ''Comaster'' is a genus of crinoids. Species The following species are included in the genus by the World Register of Marine Species: * ''Comaster audax'' Rowe, Hoggett, Birtles & Vail, 1986 * ''Comaster multifidus'' (Müller, 1841) * ''Comaste ...

''.

Description

''Comaster nobilis'' can reach a diameter of about . It has a cup-shaped body with 35-40 arms, extended out from the central disc. This species may occur in a number of colour variations. Usually it has yellow arms, sometimes with some black or green and white on the under surface close to the centre. It feeds on detritus, fitoplancton and zooplancton. The larvae of this feather star swim freely with plankton for a few weeks, then they settle down growing into a stalked form. Mature specimen break the stalk becoming free-living.

Distribution

This species is widespread in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, from

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

and

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

up to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Habitat

It is found on hard or soft corals in shallow water reefs, at a depth of 10 – 50 m.

References

WoRMS

EoL

Bardode of Life

* Shimek, R. L. (2004). Marine Invertebrates: Introduction to Feather Stars or Crinoids. TFH Publications. pp. 364–366

External links

Dive Planet

Animals described in 1884 Comatulidae {{Crinoidea-stub