feather star

feather star

noun

Definition of FEATHER STAR

: any of an order (Comatulida) of free-swimming stalkless crinoids

First Known Use of FEATHER STAR

1862

Rhymes with FEATHER STAR

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feather star

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Feather star (Comantheria grandicalyx)—Douglas Faulkner

Any of the 550 living species of crinoid echinoderms (class Crinoidea) that lack the stalk that their relatives the sea lilies use to attach themselves to the ocean bottom. Most species have five feathery-fringed arms. Feather stars usually attach themselves to a surface or a floating object and feed on drifting microorganisms, trapping them in their sticky arm grooves. They live mainly on rocky bottoms in shallow water. Most abundant from the Indian Ocean to Japan, they are also found in the Atlantic.