Keep an eye out for hitch-hiker brittlestars

BEACHGOERS are cautioned to keep an eye out for large jelly fish which have been washing up, along with their hitchhiker buddies, onto beaches in KZN recently.

Interestingly enough these jellies act as a mode of transport for hitchhiker brittlestars, the more adventurous relative of the starfish.

A similar occurrence: Blue sea slugs wash up on Toti shores 

“These jellies, Rhopilema nomadica, have no tentacles. Instead they have clumps of ‘oral-arms’ with many small mouth openings on them. The jelly feeds on zooplankton through these openings,” explained the South African Association for Marine Biology Research (SAAMBR) in a social media post.

According to the marine association, the hitchhiker brittlestars (Ophiocnemis marmorata) live under the jellies’ ‘arms’ and feed off their zooplankton scraps. Hitchhiker brittlestars go into the jellies as juveniles and will travel great distances with them.

Brittle stars or ophiuroids are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, and are closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomotion, except for the hitchhiker brittlestars, who aim to attach to jellies.

An interesting read: Bluebottles, the mysterious ocean dwellers 

There are over 2,000 species of brittle stars, with more than 1,200 of these found in deep waters, at a depth of more than 200m.

Brittlestars generally have five long, slender, whip-like arms which may reach up to 60cm in length on the largest specimens. Their name is derived from the brittle nature of these arms, which often break off. They are also known as ‘serpent stars’.