So I was watching Life on Earth and thinking I'd do one molluscs post and one echinoderm post, but I couldn't think of six for either. Then I remembered that I've been trying to do fewer than six animals a post, this is a good thing. Then when I started this post I came up with more than six animals I wanted to share anyways, so I'm gonna do at least two echidnoderm posts. This one is just for the starfish and their relatives.
I'm starting with echinoderms, mostly because I learned about the royal sea star (Astropecten articulatus) from a different source.
Pictures of the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) are so varied that it seems like it should be multiple species, but here's one whose color I really like.
Brittle stars are related to starfish but are faster moving and unlike the carnivorous starfish are generally scavengers.
Green brittle star (Ophiarachna incrassata)
Feather-hitching brittle star (Ophiomaza cacaotica)
The brittle-star clade also contains the basket stars. (Pictured: Astrocladus euryale)
Gorgon-head brittle star (Astroba nuda)