#5045 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Western Spiny Brittle Star
Ophiothrix spiculata
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © passiflora4 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Robin Gwen Agarwal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © juliamarkey · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © juliamarkey · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Marisa Agarwal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Robin Gwen Agarwal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Ken-ichi Ueda · CC BY 4.0
- 8. © Robin Gwen Agarwal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © joe_cutler · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © passiflora4 · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Ophiothrix spiculata , the western spiny brittle star , is a species of marine invertebrate in the order Ophiurida. It is found along the Pacific coast of North and South America from below the San Francisco Bay to Peru. Individuals come in a variety of colors, although usually with orange longitudinal stripes on the arms, and the body can measure up to 2 cm across. This species was first described by J. L. Le Conte in 1851.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 4,498 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by John Lawrence LeConte in 1851 (175 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Western Spiny Brittle Star
- scientific name
- Ophiothrix spiculata
- class
- Ophiuroidea
- order
- Amphilepidida
- family
- Ophiotrichidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 4,498
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1851 by John Lawrence LeConte
relatives· Ophiotrichidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 48835, Wikidata Q2664389, GBIF 5187866, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.