Basket stars

Basket stars, sometimes referred to as a Shetland Argus, are a taxon of brittle stars. They are treated as a suborderEuryalina or order Euryalida.^[3] Many of them have characteristic repeatedly branched arms. They generally live in deep sea habitats. In the wild they may live up to 35 years. They weigh up to 5 kilograms (11 lb). Like other echinoderms, basket stars lack blood and achieve gas exchange via their water vascular system.

The basket stars are the largest ophiuroids with Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni measuring up to 70 cm in arm length with a disk diameter of 14 cm.

Systematics and phylogeny

The fossil record of this group is rather poor and only dates back to Carboniferous.

Basket stars are divided into the following families:

• Asteronychidae
• Asteroschematidae
• Gorgonocephalidae
• Euryalidae