Visit Our Diving Center
View our Accommodation
  • Diving
    • Diving Courses
    • Freediving
    • Accompanied Diving
    • Unaccompanied Diving
    • Diving Pricelist
  • Accommodation
  • Special Offers
  • Our Services
  • Dive Sites
  • About Gozo
    • Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Online Shop Dive Checkin
  • EN
    • FR
    • DE
    • IT
    • PL
  • Diving
    • Diving Courses
    • Freediving
    • Accompanied Diving
    • Unaccompanied Diving
    • Diving Pricelist
  • Accommodation
  • Special Offers
  • Our Services
  • Dive Sites
  • About Gozo
    • Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
01. 07. 201901. 07. 2019

Ophioderma longicauda (Smooth Brittle Star)

Home » Blog » Ophioderma longicauda (Smooth Brittle Star)

Ophioderma longicauda, the Smooth Brittle Star (a.k.a. Snake Brittle Star or Brown Brittle Star), is a type of Brittle Star.  These are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea closely related to starfish.

Brittle Stars or ophiuroids crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomotion.  The ophiuroids generally have five long, slender, whip-like arms which may reach up to 60 cm in length on the largest specimens.  They are also known as serpent stars; the New Latin class name Ophiuroidea is derived from the Ancient Greek ὄφις, meaning “serpent”.

The genus Ophioderma belongs to the family Ophiodermatidae, order Ophiurida, class Ophiuroidea, phylum Echinodermata and kingdom Animalia.

The Smooth Brittle Star is common on the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and widely spread in the seas around Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.  It lives in dark places, on rocky or sandy ground, from a couple of metres depth down to 100 metres.  Its colour varies from red to green to dark brown, almost black, sometimes orange on deep specimens.  It is a sciaphilic species, living under rocks or preferring to take refuge in cracks or crevices, even very quickly if disturbed.

The ophiuroids diverged in the Early Ordovician, about 500 million years ago.  Of all echinoderms, the Ophiuroidea may have the strongest tendency toward five-segment radial (pentaradial) symmetry.  The body outline is like that of starfish, in that ophiuroids have five arms joined to a central body disk. However, in ophiuroids, the central body disk is sharply marked off from the arms.

The disk contains all the viscera.  That is, the internal organs of digestion and reproduction never enter the arms, as they do in the Asteroidea.  The underside of the disk contains the mouth, which has five toothed jaws formed from skeletal plates.  The madreporite is usually located within one of the jaw plates, and not on the upper side of the animal as it is in starfish.

The ophiuroid coelom is strongly reduced, particularly in comparison to other echinoderms.  Suckers and ampullae are absent from the tube feet.

Most ophiuroids have no eyes, or other specialised sense organs.  However, they have several types of sensitive nerve endings in their epidermis, and can sense chemicals in the water, touch, and even the presence or absence of light.  Moreover, tube feet may sense light as well as odours.  These are especially found at the ends of their arms, detecting light and retreating into crevices.

Smooth Brittle Stars generally sexually mature in two to three years, become full grown in three to four years, and live up to 5 years.  Ophiuroids can readily regenerate lost arms or arm segments unless all arms are lost.  Ophiuroids use this ability to escape predators, in a way similar to lizards which deliberately shed the distal part of their tails to confuse pursuers.  Discarded arms have not been shown to have the ability to regenerate.

Ophioderma longicauda use their arms for locomotion, moving rapidly by wriggling their arms which are highly flexible and enable the animals to make either snake-like or rowing movements.  However, they tend to attach themselves to the sea floor or to sponges or cnidarians, such as coral.  They move as if they were bilaterally symmetrical, with an arbitrary leg selected as the symmetry axis and the other four used in propulsion.  The axial leg may be facing or trailing the direction of motion, and due to the radially symmetrical nervous system, can be changed whenever a change in direction is necessary.

The photo of this Smooth Brittle Star was taken at a depth of 5 metres at Reqqa Point on Gozo’s north coast.

Photo taken by Brian Azzopardi

Related posts

Atlantis Boot 2023
22. 12. 202212. 01. 2023

Atlantis Gozo at Boot Dusseldorf 2023

Boot Dusseldorf 2023 Hall 12/A31.8 Once again, Atlantis Gozo will participate with our stand at Boot Dusseldorf starting on 21...

Read More
Merry Christmas
16. 12. 2021

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2022

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2022 Wishing you all the best ! Happy Holidays from the Atlantis Gozo...

Read More
Rebreather Corner - satisfied guests
25. 07. 2021

Latest News July 2021 – Satisfied Guests

Coming across satisfied guests may not be that difficult after all.  Being thanked or rewarded for your efforts is really...

Read More

Reviews

Tolles Center für Sport- Tec und Rebreather Taucher. Bestens zu empfehlen 😃, immer wieder gerne hier 👍.
Manfred Kleemann
Manfred Kleemann
2022-05-23T05:51:17+0000
Our club goes out to Malta/Gozo every year and Atlantis was by far the best centre we have dealt with. The communication building up to the trip was great. So helpful. Our club has a mixed range of diver levels and Atlantis made sure that all our levels was covered. On arrival the welcome was very warming. They couldn’t have been more helpful. Once the admin and kit issue was done we was on our way. The end I’ve every day the team was on hand to assist us making sure we was all prepared for the following day. Nitrox, stages, fills and so on. The end of our trip the staff even came to the apartment to say farewell and seen us off. One of our club members left their regs by mistake but the team contacted us and meet us at the ferry port to return them. Thank you so much!!! We will be returning next year.
Alex Lucas
Alex Lucas
2022-04-21T07:36:58+0000
Highly recommended dive centre! We got all needed services in very friendly atmosphere. Thank you!!
Gedimas Usack
Gedimas Usack
2021-11-27T20:24:01+0000
I did a package deal of 10 dives with Atlantis and was extremely impressed from the get go. The center was very well equipped and maintained and the staff were awesome, totally committed to making sure everyone was welcomed and having fun whilst keeping a high level of professionalism. The guides (Denis, Georgia, Apollo, George) were very knowledgeable and friendly. I highly recommend Atlantis to anyone looking for a solid and trustworthy center with fair prices. P.s. Go in November, its way less busy and the vis is still good!
Jakob Wayne Víkingur Robertson
Jakob Wayne Víkingur Robertson
2021-11-18T01:22:10+0000
awesome place awesome people!
Richard Binks
Richard Binks
2021-10-20T05:07:13+0000
‹
›

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest news and special offers from the Atlantis Gozo Diving team! By doing so you agree to our Privacy Policy

Mailchimp
Sending
  • About Atlantis
    • Careers
    • Affiliates
  • Diving
    • Diving Courses
    • Diving Pricelist
    • PADI Courses
    • CMAS & VDST Courses
    • BSAC Courses
    • Speciality Courses
    • Accompanied Diving
    • Unaccompanied Diving
    • Technical Diving
    • Diving Equipment Rental
    • Freediving
  • Dive Sites
  • Holiday Services
    • Accommodation
    • Airport Transfers
    • Car Hire
    • Tours
  • Special Offers
  • Gozo
  • Gallery
    • Photo Credits
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 Atlantis Diving Center. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Refund Policy

Website designed & developed by