Florometra Serratissima . © 2005 echinoderm2
An Interview with a Feather Star (Also Known as a Crinoid)
Barbara Waters: Hi, welcome to our one-time interview with the ocean-wide sensation, FEATHER STAR!! I'm Barbara Waters, reporting live from the coral reef at the largest ocean current off the coast of Australia! Welcome, Feather Star!
Feather Star: Thank you, Barbara!! I'm delighted to be here!
Barbara: So, Feather Star, tell us what you've been up to lately!
Feather Star: Well, I've just finished up on the set of "Finding Nemo" and now I'm on the market for a good feeding location. I want a luxury cave of some sort, where I can just settle down and catch some good gourmet plankton!
Barbara: That sounds exciting, but please, I know we've all been wondering what you do when you're not making movies!
Feather Star: Well, Barbara, I love the nightlife of our reef, being a nocturnal creature, as you know; I just feel in my element at night.
Florometra Serratissima.
Barbara: Haha, great, Feather Star. So, I'm looking at your baby picture here and you look very cute!
Feather Star: Haha, yes that is when I still had my stalk!! It was about a third of an inch long and once I became an adult I unattached myself from the stalk and left it behind.
Barbara: Well tell me this, how did you eat if your stalk was attached at an inconvenient feeding place?
Feather Star: As you can see in the picture, Barbara, my arms formed a food-collecting bowl and that was how I collected food!
Barbara: Very interesting, Feather Star. So I know everyone has been wondering what your importance to the reef is (other than your acting skills, of course).
Feather Star: Well, because my relatives and I take up a lot of room on the reef bottom, we protect the reef from potentially dangerous organisms that could have perched there instead. Also, we feather stars are hosts to crinoidea clingfish!
Barbara: This has been a wonderful interview. So as you all know, The Feather Star's linnean taxonomy is:
Genera: Florometra
Family: Antendonidoe
Order: Comatulida
Class: Crinoidea
Phyla: Echinodermata
Kingdom: Animalia
Domain: Eukaryota
Species: Florometra Serratissima
And please, everyone, go out and see Feather Star's new movie "Finding Nemo" with lots of amazing information about our home, the ocean!!
Feather Star: Thanks again, Barbara!
Information on the Internet
- Invertebrates last modified: Thu Dec 16 2004 02:10:36 Copyright Teresa Zubi
- Feather Stars Copyright © 2005 encyclopedia.com
- Introduction to Crinoidea Copyright 1994–2005 by the Regents of the University of California
