This extraordinary creature is a basket star, a deep-sea type of brittle star with many branched arms. Its scientific name, Gorgonocephalus, refers to the gorgons of Greek mythology, who had live snakes for hair. Basket stars walk across the sea floor on their arm tips and feed by holding their branched arms upwards – this forms a ‘basket’ that traps food. They are found at depths of 200–500 metres around New Zealand’s continental shelf.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
exploretheabyss.com
Photograph by Peter Batson
This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.
Tāpiritia te tākupu hou