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ON THE PRESERVATION OF BUTTLESTARS |
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"No, that's not a misprint," writes special correspondent Carla J. Bundrick, as we all wonder "will the awesome brittlestar ever regain its literary self-respect?" |
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Modern Dance This Week |
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NEW DANCE CRAZE MAKES YOU WONDER- WHO WILL YOU BUMP INTO NEXT? |
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Here is a hot dance craze based on an original woodcut by Forbes, 1841. The hip "Ophiuran Swing" has been practiced by ophiuroids the world over for millions of years, but we're just picking up on the craze. Brittle stars have perfected this dance, and find that it is also very useful in bumping into and capturing plankton while filter feeding. The steps are easy: just wave your arms and legs about. Who knows who you might bump into! |
BROADEN YOUR APPRECIATION FOR ECHINODERMS WITH A TASTE OF SEA CUCUMBER
If you happen to be a crab or fish, you might very well enjoy a good meal of brittle star. The rest of us would far rather enjoy a good meal of fish or crab- such is the food web. However, perhaps you would like to try a change and opt for a popular Asian dish with sea cucumber. Sea cucumbers are related to brittle stars, even though they look very different. Instead of having large calcareous plates that make the brittle star a bit unappealing (culinarily speaking of course), the sea cucumber has very reduced plates, called ossicles. Because of this, you can chow down on sea cucumbers without the crunch! For some hints and recipes, click on the image above!
Here is a fancy little piece of Victorian handcraft found in the Natural History Museum in London (contributed by Francisco Solis-Marin). It is a microscope slide with a lovely design. Enlarged, the image details can be seen. The "snowflake" design is made using arm and disk spines, but the species and artist is unknown.
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Music: |
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BRITTLESTAR RECORDS |
THE BRITTLE STARS! |
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A WEB SEARCH TURNED UP INFO ON THIS DC AREA STUDIO! |
CHECK OUT THIS HOT GROUP WITH A COOL NAME! BRITTLE STARS OFFICIAL WEB SITE Hear samples of their music, and see the CD which one reviewer called simply "stunning!" Check out some photos of the band! |
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Nautical Themes |
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Check out the relaxing sounds of this MP3 called "Brittlestar" |
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FINE ART NEWS |
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How about this terrific fractal image called "brittlestar" from Sleepy Frog Fractals. Check out their really cool fractals by clicking on the image! |
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PHOTOGRAPHY: |
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A number of sites show beautiful photographs of brittlestars. One of the best is Photovault and their echinoderm page. |
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