Biodiversity & Conservation

Temperature range preferences - 5 - 15°C

Water clarity preferences - High clarity / Low turbidity
Medium clarity / Medium turbidity
Low clarity / High turbidity

Limiting Nutrients - Not relevant

Other preferences -

• Living brittlestar beds are widespread and common around Britain and Ireland, but are fairly rare on a global scale. Extensive Ophiothrix spp. beds exist on the French side of the English Channel. Cabioch (1986) describes two dense brittlestar facies (communities) from the Manche area of Normandy:
  • Ophiothrix fragilis and encrusting bryozoans.
  • Encrusting sponges with dense populations of Ophiothrix fragilis.
• Temporary aggregations of this species have been recorded in the Dutch Oosterschelde Estuary (Hughes, 1998).
• Shallow-water aggregations of other brittlestar species are also known from the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, the Antarctic, California and Japan.