Biodiversity & Conservation

Common brittlestar - Ophiothrix fragilis - General information

Ophiothrix fragilis

Image Keith Hiscock - Ophiothrix fragilis brittlestar bed. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Ophiothrix fragilis recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Ophiothrix fragilis is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Angus Jackson Text page icon Refereed by: Prof. Paul Tyler

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Echinodermata Starfish, brittlestars, sea urchins & sea cucumbers
Class Stelleroidea Starfish, sea stars, cushion stars and brittlestars
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland All British and Irish coasts, except for the east coast of Scotland, around the Humber Estuary and north East Anglia and south Kent coast.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found from the lower shore to circalittoral offshore habitats on hard substrata including bedrock, boulders and on coarse sediment. Most abundant on tideswept rock and on mixed coarse sediments. In the intertidal the species is found in crevices and under boulders.
Text page icon Description A large brittlestar whose disk may reach up to 2 cm in diameter. The five arms are long (about five times the disk diameter) and spiny. The upper disk surface has a 5-rayed pattern of spines. This species is very varied in colour, commonly brown or grey but ranging through purple, red, orange, yellow, and white. Colouration may be plain or banded (particularly on the arms). The arms are fragile and often broken.

This review can be cited as follows:

Angus Jackson 2008. Ophiothrix fragilis. Common brittlestar. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3976>