The Common Brittlestar is a sea creature that has five long slender arms extending from the centre of its body. It has the name ‘Brittlestar’ because its arms and body are covered in spines which are quite brittle. It can be found in shallow waters in crevices, under large stones and amongst seaweed around most of the English coast, apart from northern East Anglia and in some parts of the south-east. It is also called the Serpent Star.

The Common Brittlestar averages around twenty centimetres in diameter and is usually a brown or grey colour, but sometimes it can be yellow, red, orange, purple and white. On the underside of the arms there are rows of ‘tube feet’ which are fluid-filled muscular tubes with suckers.  The tube feet extend the body when the Common Brittlestar wants to move along surfaces or when it is looking for food. The Common Brittlestar can also push its stomach out of its mouth when it wants to feed.

Common Brittlestars gather in large groups on the seabed and groups as large as ten thousand can be seen together. If water currents are too strong, these sea creatures link arms to avoid being swept away. The larvae of Common Brittlestars hatch out of eggs directly into the water where they first become part of zooplankton. After around three weeks the larvae settle on the seabed to develop into adults Common Brittlestars.