Jenis Crinoid Feather Stars

• The fertilized eggs then hatch to release free-swimming vitellaria larva.
o This larva has rings of cilia running around the body with a tuft of sensory
hairs at the upper pole.
o There have been some cases where the female crinoid has been known
to temporarily brood the larvae using chambers in their arms.
• The larva doesn’t feed and lasts only for a few days before it settles at the bottom
and attaches itself to the underlying surface using a adhesive gland on its ventral
surface.
• The larva then metamorphoses into a stalked adult.
o Free-swimming feather stars sometimes go through this stage too, with
the final stage ending with the adult breaking away from the stalk.
• Within 10-16 months, they are able to produce after becoming adults.
Ecosystem
• They are chiefly deep-sea organisms, mostly inhabiting deep water, usually
attached to sediment resting at the bottom of a stream.
• They relatively live in environments with plankton