Blastoids are extinct echinoderms, related to starfish, sand dollars and crinoids. They have long stems and delicate hair-like brachioles to grab food that are rarely preserved in the fossil record.
This Hyperoblastus is one of the smallest I've found in the Devonian Silica Shale.
#FossilFriday
This Hyperoblastus is one of the smallest I've found in the Devonian Silica Shale.
#FossilFriday
October 30, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Blastoids are extinct echinoderms, related to starfish, sand dollars and crinoids. They have long stems and delicate hair-like brachioles to grab food that are rarely preserved in the fossil record.
This Hyperoblastus is one of the smallest I've found in the Devonian Silica Shale.
#FossilFriday
This Hyperoblastus is one of the smallest I've found in the Devonian Silica Shale.
#FossilFriday
...It's an omnivorous feeder that can, because of its strong and heavy teeth, tackle a variety of benthic prey like cnidarians, molluscs, ctenophores, crustaceans, other fish, algae, and echinoderms. This species in particular, given its broad diet and distribution, is a crucial component in...
November 3, 2026 at 12:01 AM
...It's an omnivorous feeder that can, because of its strong and heavy teeth, tackle a variety of benthic prey like cnidarians, molluscs, ctenophores, crustaceans, other fish, algae, and echinoderms. This species in particular, given its broad diet and distribution, is a crucial component in...
October 30, 2026 at 12:50 PM
📢We have a winner!📢
🏆🏁After an incredibly tight race, we can finally announce that the Clash of the Clades winner is........ BRACHIOPODS!🎉
Other rankings:
🥈Second place - Echinoderms
🥉Third place - Mollusks
Thank you to everyone who got involved and donated! 🫶
🏆🏁After an incredibly tight race, we can finally announce that the Clash of the Clades winner is........ BRACHIOPODS!🎉
Other rankings:
🥈Second place - Echinoderms
🥉Third place - Mollusks
Thank you to everyone who got involved and donated! 🫶
October 26, 2026 at 5:46 PM
📢We have a winner!📢
🏆🏁After an incredibly tight race, we can finally announce that the Clash of the Clades winner is........ BRACHIOPODS!🎉
Other rankings:
🥈Second place - Echinoderms
🥉Third place - Mollusks
Thank you to everyone who got involved and donated! 🫶
🏆🏁After an incredibly tight race, we can finally announce that the Clash of the Clades winner is........ BRACHIOPODS!🎉
Other rankings:
🥈Second place - Echinoderms
🥉Third place - Mollusks
Thank you to everyone who got involved and donated! 🫶
Suddenly struck by the similarities: restoring urchins in the Caribbean helps coral reefs recover. Removing urchins by restoring sunflower stars on North America’s Pacific coast could help kelp forests recover. Opposite approaches, shared goal: restoring ecological balance. Echinoderms FTW!
October 26, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Suddenly struck by the similarities: restoring urchins in the Caribbean helps coral reefs recover. Removing urchins by restoring sunflower stars on North America’s Pacific coast could help kelp forests recover. Opposite approaches, shared goal: restoring ecological balance. Echinoderms FTW!
Millions of years ago during the Silurian period, the Sahara Desert was a shallow sea full of aquatic animals like crinoids. Don’t be fooled! Crinoids are commonly called "sea lilies" but they aren't plants! They are echinoderms, like starfish and sea urchins, and many species are still alive today!
October 24, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Millions of years ago during the Silurian period, the Sahara Desert was a shallow sea full of aquatic animals like crinoids. Don’t be fooled! Crinoids are commonly called "sea lilies" but they aren't plants! They are echinoderms, like starfish and sea urchins, and many species are still alive today!
6/7 Foram coated synallactid. Echinoderms have with "stick-then-release" adhesives, often restricted to podia/papillae/tentacles. Pseudostichopus species are sometimes densely coated with pteropod shells or foram tests. I assume that they can be sticky all over. Selection may be passive.
October 24, 2026 at 4:03 PM
6/7 Foram coated synallactid. Echinoderms have with "stick-then-release" adhesives, often restricted to podia/papillae/tentacles. Pseudostichopus species are sometimes densely coated with pteropod shells or foram tests. I assume that they can be sticky all over. Selection may be passive.
Morphological evolution of respiratory structures in Brissopsis (Echinoidea) over the past 40 million years - new fossils from the Western Pacific onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #FossilFriday #PapersinPalaeontology @datadryad.bsky.social
October 23, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Morphological evolution of respiratory structures in Brissopsis (Echinoidea) over the past 40 million years - new fossils from the Western Pacific onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #FossilFriday #PapersinPalaeontology @datadryad.bsky.social
In lab tests, a two-faced magnetic elastomer modelled on shellfish and echinoderms cut impact force 85% and gave a 40 °C temperature difference, its stiffness tunable 40-fold. The aim: protecting precision instruments in harsh environments. #MaterialsScience
Magnetically guided programmable thermomechanical protection enabled by biomimetic asymmetric design | Frontier
Precision instruments working in harsh environments need protective materials that dissipate impact energy while resisting heat, and protection that can be…
frontierresearch.co
October 23, 2026 at 11:30 AM
In lab tests, a two-faced magnetic elastomer modelled on shellfish and echinoderms cut impact force 85% and gave a 40 °C temperature difference, its stiffness tunable 40-fold. The aim: protecting precision instruments in harsh environments. #MaterialsScience
マボヤ採集の際に見かけたイトマキヒトデとキタムラサキウニです。浅虫周辺で最も普通に観察できる棘皮動物の2種であり、教育研究の場でも重要な生物です。
I spotted these blue bat stars (Patiria pectinifera) and sea urchins (Mesocentrotus nudus) during recent ascidian sampling. As the most common echinoderms around Asamushi, they are important for both education and research.
I spotted these blue bat stars (Patiria pectinifera) and sea urchins (Mesocentrotus nudus) during recent ascidian sampling. As the most common echinoderms around Asamushi, they are important for both education and research.
October 23, 2026 at 6:20 AM
マボヤ採集の際に見かけたイトマキヒトデとキタムラサキウニです。浅虫周辺で最も普通に観察できる棘皮動物の2種であり、教育研究の場でも重要な生物です。
I spotted these blue bat stars (Patiria pectinifera) and sea urchins (Mesocentrotus nudus) during recent ascidian sampling. As the most common echinoderms around Asamushi, they are important for both education and research.
I spotted these blue bat stars (Patiria pectinifera) and sea urchins (Mesocentrotus nudus) during recent ascidian sampling. As the most common echinoderms around Asamushi, they are important for both education and research.
A selection of #chalk sea organisms from @nhm-london.bsky.social collections that we've databased this week - from the top predators in the water column (Mosasaurs) to seafloor grazers (echinoids) and tiny free-living and encrusting filter feeders (bryozoa).
October 21, 2026 at 7:54 AM
A selection of #chalk sea organisms from @nhm-london.bsky.social collections that we've databased this week - from the top predators in the water column (Mosasaurs) to seafloor grazers (echinoids) and tiny free-living and encrusting filter feeders (bryozoa).
Still waiting to learn the outcome of the Paleontological Society's Clash of the Clades contest held during the GSA meeting last week. Echinoderms FTW!
October 20, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Still waiting to learn the outcome of the Paleontological Society's Clash of the Clades contest held during the GSA meeting last week. Echinoderms FTW!
Fish. Coelenterates. Molluscs. Echinoderms. Many other animals. Aquatic plants. Ships and maritime structures.
October 19, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Fish. Coelenterates. Molluscs. Echinoderms. Many other animals. Aquatic plants. Ships and maritime structures.
Cambrian fossils illuminate the ambulacrarian common ancestor CurrentBiology
Cambrian fossils illuminate the ambulacrarian common ancestor
He et al. describe Yujingia, a new early Cambrian ambulacrarian with differentiated appendages that include pinnate arms with filter-feeding grooves. The morphology and phylogenetic position of Yujingia suggest that modern ambulacrarians, including echinoderms and hemichordates, evolved from a tentaculate, semi-sessile suspension-feeding ancestor.
dlvr.it
October 21, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Cambrian fossils illuminate the ambulacrarian common ancestor CurrentBiology
Cambrian fossils illuminate the ambulacrarian common ancestor CurrentBiology
Cambrian fossils illuminate the ambulacrarian common ancestor
He et al. describe Yujingia, a new early Cambrian ambulacrarian with differentiated appendages that include pinnate arms with filter-feeding grooves. The morphology and phylogenetic position of Yujingia suggest that modern ambulacrarians, including echinoderms and hemichordates, evolved from a tentaculate, semi-sessile suspension-feeding ancestor.
dlvr.it
October 20, 2026 at 5:40 AM
Cambrian fossils illuminate the ambulacrarian common ancestor CurrentBiology
Sunflower stars, despite being the biggest sea star on earth, are not super #eDNA shedders
Echinoderms appear to shed orders of magnitude less DNA
Interestingly UV doesn’t seem to have a strong effect on DNA shedding rates
But stress/behavior seems to matter a lot
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Echinoderms appear to shed orders of magnitude less DNA
Interestingly UV doesn’t seem to have a strong effect on DNA shedding rates
But stress/behavior seems to matter a lot
doi.org/10.64898/202...
doi.org
October 16, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Sunflower stars, despite being the biggest sea star on earth, are not super #eDNA shedders
Echinoderms appear to shed orders of magnitude less DNA
Interestingly UV doesn’t seem to have a strong effect on DNA shedding rates
But stress/behavior seems to matter a lot
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Echinoderms appear to shed orders of magnitude less DNA
Interestingly UV doesn’t seem to have a strong effect on DNA shedding rates
But stress/behavior seems to matter a lot
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Pincurchin's existence confirms there are others who look at echinoderms with a loving gaze
October 14, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Pincurchin's existence confirms there are others who look at echinoderms with a loving gaze
The Seychelles is famous for its beaches. I spent a week underwater.
Octopuses that change color and texture, toothless nudibranchs armed with sponge toxins, batfish, and coral nurseries rebuilding the reef. Here are a few of my favorite images.
scubahanknyc.com/2026/07/26/u...
Octopuses that change color and texture, toothless nudibranchs armed with sponge toxins, batfish, and coral nurseries rebuilding the reef. Here are a few of my favorite images.
scubahanknyc.com/2026/07/26/u...
Underwater Images From the Seychelles
<p>Photographs from a week of diving in the inner Seychelles — most shot from the liveaboard S.Y. Sea Bird, the rest from resort boat dives off Mahé. Seven galleries: reef, batfish, nudibranchs, octopus, ambush predators, echinoderms and coral restoration.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://scubahanknyc.com/2026/07/26/underwater-images-from-the-seychelles/">Underwater Images From the Seychelles</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://scubahanknyc.com">Scuba Hank NYC</a>.</p>
scubahanknyc.com
October 14, 2026 at 7:45 PM
The Seychelles is famous for its beaches. I spent a week underwater.
Octopuses that change color and texture, toothless nudibranchs armed with sponge toxins, batfish, and coral nurseries rebuilding the reef. Here are a few of my favorite images.
scubahanknyc.com/2026/07/26/u...
Octopuses that change color and texture, toothless nudibranchs armed with sponge toxins, batfish, and coral nurseries rebuilding the reef. Here are a few of my favorite images.
scubahanknyc.com/2026/07/26/u...
Our time has come
October 12, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Our time has come
Easter gift 2018: Pentactula larva with wheel ossicles, captured in the coastal #plankton of the Northern Adriatic! Following auricularia, sea cucumber larvae undergo pentactula stage before they settle down to the sediment. #Invertebrates #Echinoderms
October 13, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Easter gift 2018: Pentactula larva with wheel ossicles, captured in the coastal #plankton of the Northern Adriatic! Following auricularia, sea cucumber larvae undergo pentactula stage before they settle down to the sediment. #Invertebrates #Echinoderms
Easter gift 2018: Pentactula larva with wheel ossicles, captured in the coastal #plankton of the Northern Adriatic! Following auricularia, sea cucumber larvae undergo pentactula stage before they settle down to the sediment. #Invertebrates #Echinoderms
October 13, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Easter gift 2018: Pentactula larva with wheel ossicles, captured in the coastal #plankton of the Northern Adriatic! Following auricularia, sea cucumber larvae undergo pentactula stage before they settle down to the sediment. #Invertebrates #Echinoderms
Juvenile ophiuroids develop into adult in the watercolumn. A younger one visible with rudiments of posterior lateral arms of the ophiopluteus, another with longer arms of the adult brittle star, without larval arms. #Plankton of the Northern Adriatic. #Echinoderms #Invertebrates
October 13, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Juvenile ophiuroids develop into adult in the watercolumn. A younger one visible with rudiments of posterior lateral arms of the ophiopluteus, another with longer arms of the adult brittle star, without larval arms. #Plankton of the Northern Adriatic. #Echinoderms #Invertebrates
Juvenile ophiuroids develop into adult in the watercolumn. A younger one visible with rudiments of posterior lateral arms of the ophiopluteus, another with longer arms of the adult brittle star, without larval arms. #Plankton of the Northern Adriatic. #Echinoderms #Invertebrates
October 13, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Juvenile ophiuroids develop into adult in the watercolumn. A younger one visible with rudiments of posterior lateral arms of the ophiopluteus, another with longer arms of the adult brittle star, without larval arms. #Plankton of the Northern Adriatic. #Echinoderms #Invertebrates