Lamprometra+palmate

** (Feather Star) **
 * // Lamprometra palmate //**

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 * Description: **
 * Feather stars are benthic animals. They usually cling to hard substrates such as corals and rocks with root-like structures called cirri. Usually they do not migrate actively, but if they need to, they can crawl with their cirri to change their microhabitat. One of the distinctive structures of a feather star is its arms. The approximately 625 species of feather stars inhabit most ocean floors of all depths. **

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 * Feather stars have numerous feathery arms that radiate out from a small body. A feather star has 10 to 120 arms, and these numbers differ between species and change during various growth stages; five arms extend from the central disc and each branches once or several times. Each arm has pinnules extending from both lateral sides. **
 * Feedings Habits: **
 * Arms and pinnules are organs for feeding and locomotion. They have well-developed muscles, ligaments and nerve cords. Feather stars are suspension feeders, which eat planktonic organisms such as diatoms, foraminifera, small crustaceans and young mollusks, as well as organic particles. Feather stars use a feeding technique called passive suspension feeding in which they extend their feeding arms into the current of the water and catch food as it filters through. Their mouth is located on the top of their body. **


 * Reproduction: **
 * Most feather stars are dioecious, meaning separate male and female animals exist. A gonad develops in each pinnule, which is located in a relatively proximal part of the arm. They eject eggs or sperm from gonads and fertilization occurs in the seawater. There are some variations in spawning style of females according to species. In some species, a female ejects all of its eggs simultaneously. In other species, a female ejects eggs multiple times in small volumes. After spawning, some specimens wave their arms to disperse the eggs, and some leave eggs attached onto the pinnules. **



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